Starcraft AU: Tiberium Galaxy
by avatar-of-kane
Summary: More than 400 years has passed since the events of Tiberium Twilight. Now, stuck in the Koprulu Sector, Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod plans a new level of ascension. No terrans, protoss or zergs shall stop them. First part of trilogy.
1. Prologue: The Awakening

My first fanfic and my English may be bad, so please no flaming.

I have been always wanting to put something like this up for a long time, a crossover between two of my most favourite RTS series of all times. Surprisingly, I can hardly find any good crossover between these two series, so I decide to make one myself. Anyway, this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

So let's get started!

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Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

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**PROLOGUE: THE AWAKENING**

(Somewhere in the Kopulu Sector...)

A huge gathering is taking place. Thousands and millions of black-clad individuals are massing in front of a huge stage, with a gigantic screen at the back of the stage. Each individual is dressed in a black power suit similar to those of standard terran's CMC Powered Combat Suit, but the suits are much slimmer in design and have a red visor for each helmet. Each bears a symbol at the chest of their suit: a black and red hexagon with a scorpion tail within. Hanging at each side of the giant screen, are the black and red flags of the same hexagon with a scorpion tail.

Despite the number of people, the scene is unusually silent. Then, spotlights light up the centre stage. 3 men enter the stage towards a microphone placed in the middle. 2 of them at the sides are obviously escorts, dressed in bigger, bulkier versions of the black power suits worn by the spectators. Their helmets are tall and conical in shape, with 4 red visors (1). They are each armed with large gauss rifles similar to the C-14 models used by Terran Marines. The man in the middle, however, is in the centre of the spotlights. Unlike others, he is only wearing a simple black priest-like robe with a hood put on. As they reach the microphone, the centre man signal the guards to leave, whom both of them salute to him with their gauss rifles on before doing so.

As the guards leave, the man put down his hood, revealing his face. He appears to be in his mid-30s, bald and has a moustache and a goatee. This man is Kane, the undisputed leader of the Brotherhood of Nod ever since its founding more than thousands of years ago. To the followers of the Nod, he is their messiah, their spiritual leader, the one who would lead them to the next stage of human evolution; and for those who knew the history of their organisation, the one who led them to ascension. After more than 400 years since the ascension of Brotherhood of Nod, Kane still lives, and still shows no signs of aging. By now, all his followers know that he is not human, but this fact does not disturb them. Instead, they treat his immortality as a sign that he is truly a messiah, an immortal, a GOD.

After Kane removes his hood, the crowd begins to chant his name repeatedly. His face appears up in the giant screen behind him.

"Kane! Kane! Kane! Kane! Kane... ..." the chant goes on until Kane himself brings up his right palm, signifying the crowd to remain silent. Silence comes immediately, and Kane begins his speech:

"Brothers, sisters, children of Nod... ..."

"It has been more than 400 years since our last ascension from earth. Although our last ascension did not let us end up in the place that I had expected to be, and once again I apologised to that, that setback was not enough to break us."

The crowd roars, remembering how their first generation of ascended ancestors survived their ascension alongside with Kane and told their tales to their children and grandchildren. Kane continues his speech:

"Our ancestors had done a brilliant job. We survived this new world and we colonised. We built new settlements, new cities, and a new country, dedicated only to the Brotherhood of Nod! As our land of Eden went up, our technology continued to advance! We had underground cities, controlled Tiberium farms, space ships, life support suits allowing us to survive in deep space, Tiberium infusions to allow us to survive and even thrive under full Tiberium exposure, and many more! Thanks to our ancestors, we finally had our promised land of Eden, with no interference from those who called themselves 'the first-world countries', the rich and selfish capitalists, the oppressors, the GDI!"

The crowd roars again in approval. Kane resumes his speech:

"For hundreds of years, we lived in this land of Eden in peace. No more bloodshed, no more petty rivalries, no more in-fighting, no more competition! It is truly a time of peace and prosperity for us... until the arrival of the 'exiled ones! (2)"

The crowd roars again, remembering the moment when the Terrans from Earth arrived in this sector in 4 supercarriers around 200 years ago. After the arrival of these exiled humans, the peace in their new home began to vanish. Kane raises his right palm again to silence the crowd, as he continues his speech:

"We had witnessed their arrival. We had witnessed their separation. We had witnessed their rivalries. We had witnessed their greed. We had witnessed their competition. We had witnessed their wars! A few of them encountered us and joined us, but many were still out there, too greedy , too foolish, too corrupted, and too dangerous to be part of us! As their wars raged on, we had to be forced to hide in our underground cities, forced to hide our precious Tiberium, forced to let them overtake our lands and strip away all available resources!"

The crowd roars in approval, and some curses and swears directed towards the Terrans can be heard. Kane raises his right palm again, silencing the crowd and continues on:

"As their wars went on, we witnessed the arrival of 2 new races of extraterrestrials. The proud and arrogant 'first-borns' (3), and the savage 'beasts' (4). We witnessed the 3-sided battles among those 3 races, each vying for dominance in this sector. We were fortunate that none of the 3 combatants noticed our existence. Then, as the 3 sides continued their petty warfare for dominance, the successors of our most hated historic enemies had arrived... (5)"

The crowd stirs again as they remember the arrival of the UED, which at that time did cause a widespread panic among the Brotherhood, which was not ready for war against their historic enemy at that time. Kane continues:

"The UED claimed to come here to restore peace and order to this sector, yet we all knew the truth. They were only here to steal away everything. Like the GDI before them, they only care for themselves and they came here only to gain dominance, to have all the riches of this sector for themselves, to control all the systems in this sector, to oppress all the inhabitants. Fortunately for us, the UED failed. They got nothing in the end, except for total annihilation..."

The crowd cheers, as Kane goes on with his speech:

"Although the UED may be gone for now, but they will return. We may be weak and unprepared for war in those past years, but not anymore. We now have enough weapons, enough tanks, enough soldiers, enough ships to fight anyone who dares to stand in our way!"

The crowd cheers once again, always inspired by the words of their messiah, as the messiah himself goes on:

"The Terran Dominion are still rebuilding after their wars and they are vulnerable! The 'first-borns' are defeated and their numbers are few and scattered! The 'beasts' and their arrogant queen of abomination think they have won and they are the top in the food chain of this sector, but they will not realise that they will soon become mere tools for our own plans! Our enemies are now weak, and now we have finally grown strong!"

A huge roar from the crowd, a response to the realisation of what their leader is hinting.

"Brothers, the time has come, for us to stop hiding! The time has come, for us to take the fight back to our enemies! The time has come, to reclaim what is rightfully ours! The time has come for our next stage of evolution!"

"THE TIME HAS COME, FOR OUR NEXT LEVEL OF ASCENSION!"

Another loud cheer coming from the crowd, louder than all the previous ones during the speech.

"Once again, Tiberium is going to be the key of our next ascension. This time, we will spread the glory of Tiberium not just across this planet, but throughout the entire sector. We will show them the strength and the power of Tiberium to our enemies, and convince them to join us in our crusade. With Tiberium, we will crush anyone that dares to resist us! With Tiberium, we will ascend once more and this time, we will find our true destiny!"

The loudest cheer from the crowd so far echoes throughout the stage.

"BROTHERS, LET US UNITE AND FULFIL OUR DESTINY! ONE VISION! ONE PURPOSE! PEACE THROUGH POWER!"

"Peace through power! Peace through power! Peace through power... ..." the chant goes on and on, and may not stop for the next few hours, even after Kane and his escorts left the centre-stage.

The stages are set, and the balance of power in Koprulu Sector will soon be shifted again. Not the Terrans. Not the Protoss. Not even the Zergs will be prepared of what's to come.

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**Preview**

Next act: the Mysterious Green Crystals

Green crystals of unknown property begin to emerge and spread throughout the Terran colony in Mar Sara. In a short period of time, the crystals spread and begin to devastate the entire planet. Unknown to the terrans, the first seed of chaos has been sown.

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(1) Picture them as TW3 Nod confessors, except with more "futuristic" look.

(2) Kane is referring to the Terrans that are exiled from earth around the year 2300.

(3) Kane refers Protoss as the 'first-borns' just like how he refers the Scrin as the 'visitors'. Why he refer them as 'first-borns' shall be explained in the future.

(4) Just like Protoss and Scrin, Kane prefers to call the Zergs in another name, calling them as 'beasts' in this case.

(5) "Successors to GDI" refers to the UED. More will be explained in the future.

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Phew, here goes my first publish. Please R&R.

Thanks!


	2. Act 1: The Mysterious Green Crystals

This storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

So let's get started!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

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**ACT 1: THE MYSTERIOUS GREEN CRYSTALS**

(Mar Sara...)

A Vulture hover-cycle speeds across the barren wasteland of Mar Sara. The rider is a middle-aged prospector, tasked by the local Marshal to scout out for new mineral grounds.

Mar Sara had been ground zero for a number of conflicts in the past years. Previously a Confederate colony, Mar Sara fell to the Zergs, prompting previous Marshal of Mar Sara, the famed Jim Raynor, to join forces with the Sons of Korhal in order to evacuate the entire colony. The Protoss would later arrive, to incinerate the entire planet in an effort to stop the Zergs from spreading. After the incineration, life is almost barren on Mar Sara. However, it seemed that Protoss incineration of the planet had given unique properties to minerals over there. The unique minerals became the centre of attention to all Terran factions after the Brood War. Eventually, it was the Terran Dominion, previously the Sons of Korhal, that managed to stake its claim onto the planet. Now, recolonised by the Dominion, Mar Sara becomes an important mining colony for the Terran Dominion.

For the veteran prospector, this is just another routine scout and patrol mission. However, he simply cannot wonder how coincident for him to be assigned to head towards that meteor crash site. Last night, a small meteorite was reported crashing into Mar Sara. The meteorite was not big, not big enough to devastate the planet. The trajectory of the meteor showed no colonies or settlements in its path. Scans reported no signs of biological life-forms, meaning no Zergs. Hence the local militia made no efforts to intercept it.

'So, the Dominion just wanted to find out any new resources from last night's meteor... great...' the prospector thought. This is not the first time he is doing such missions. Sometimes, meteors will carry minerals along, creating new mineral grounds in its wake.

As the prospector approaches towards meteor crash site, he starts to see a glowing mist near the horizon. It is known that sometimes minerals in Mar Sara can glow under dim light, but what seems strange is the fact that the glow is greenish in colour rather than the usual blue.

'What the?' the prospector wonders. As he closes in, he begins to have the crater in his sight. As he has expected, there are mineral crystals lining around the crater... ...

GREEN CRYSTALS.

Now for his 30 years of experience in prospecting, the prospector has seen every kind of mineral crystals, all except for green coloured ones. The prospector dismounts his Vulture after he reaches a hundred metres away from the crater, and cautiously approaches the crater and crystals on foot. However, he is soon held back by a putrid smell, which seems to originate from the crystals (1). With no gas masks alongside with him, the prospector is forced to back off.

'The Marshal better get to know this. This ain't any kind of ordinary minerals. Wonder why it smells like Vespene gas too?' the prospector wonders as he mounts onto his Vulture and speeds off... ... towards the Mar Sara magistrate office.

(The next day, in Mar Sara...)

A convoy of loading trucks and SCVs arrives at the scene of the crater, with a Vulture at the lead.

Unlike the day before, the Vulture rider is a young man dressed in a marshal suit. He is a tall brunette, with short, neat cut hair and brown eyes. He is clean shaven and has a scar above his left eyebrow. He is Tray Randall, a newly appointed Colonial Marshal of Mar Sara.

Tray used to serve in the Dominion Marine Corps. He is known to be a highly skilled, fearless yet resourceful squadron leader. During the battle against the UED to reclaim Korhal, his brilliant leadership skill is notified by the Dominion, and hence appointed and trained to be a Dominion officer. He passed and graduated with flying colours, and was eventually appointed as Marshal for the newly re-established Mar Sara colony upon his graduation.

Tray dismounts his Vulture and begins to survey the surroundings. From the reports he have received yesterday, this is the spot where the meteor hits, where the strange green crystals sprout. As he looks around the crater, he seems to confirm all the details of the reports, except for one thing...

According to the report by the prospector, the area of green crystals cover an area of around 10 acres around the crater. But as Tray surveys the area, it seems the area covered by the crystals is much bigger than that. In fact, it seems to be covering an area of more than 50 acres now.

"All right everyone listen up! I want every personnel to put on your gas masks, unlike you want to sniff Vespene right in front of your face! All SCV personnels, start loading up these green cyrs onto the loading trucks! After all trucks full, we can start to hit home! So let's make it quick and snappy!"

"Roger that!"

Soon the SCVs begin to start work. Tray hopes to finish the collecting of these crystals quickly. Whatever these crystals are, they are definitely a health hazard if inhaled. Just this morning, his prospector had reported sick, saying that he had been coughing throughout the whole morning. Initial medical diagnosis show symptoms similar to excessive Vespene gas exposure, which may explain the coughing. This is why the prospector cannot join him today for the extraction.

However, his plans have to make a change very soon...

"What the heck?" One of the SCV pilot shouts out. As all attention turn to him, they see something that they will never expect to see...

"Arghhhhhhhh! What's this thing? Its burning into me!"

It appears that this SCV pilot has accidentally touches the green crystals with his bare hands. The moment he touches the crystals, the crystals begin to seep into his skin. In a few seconds, green crystals begin to sprout out and spread across his skin.

"Arghhhhhhhhh! Oh god! Oh god! Somebody help me get this thing off me!"

Some SCV pilots manage to overcome their initial shock, and try to approach their fallen comrade, but Tray knows better.

"No, everyone fall back! There is nothing we can do for him now!"

Not wanting to disobey orders from their Marshal, all the SCV pilots retreat reluctantly. They do nothing other than helplessly watching their comrade to fall off from his SCV, struggling to shake off the green crystals, shouting for help. A few minutes later, his shouts get softer and softer. His struggles get weaker and weaker. Then he lies on the ground motionlessly, dead. As he lies dead, the green crystals begin to spread across his body, and his entire body begins to crystallise slowly.

"Alright everyone listen up! No one must touch these crys with their bare hands! Do not even let any bare skin touches these crys! Unless you all want to end up like this fella over here. Do you receive my order?"

"Orders received!" all remaining personnel receive their orders from their Marshal loud and clear. The last thing they want is to end up a gruesome death like their unlucky comrade.

Tray feels disturbed. The last thing he wants is for someone to die in an accident in this simple extraction operation. Yet when he saw that SCV pilot getting consumed by the crystals, his instincts tell him that anyone trying to help will get consumed as well. The next thing that he doesn't want to see is to have a pile of dead bodies consumed with those mysterious green crystals. This simple operation is now getting more complicated and hazardous to his men, and he has to end it quick.

After a few hours, fortunately with no further casualties, all the trucks are half-loaded. For safety reasons, Tray decided to change his orders from fully loading all trucks to half loading all trucks instead. He wants to finish up this operation as fast as possible to avoid further deaths. Since the objective of this mission is to collect samples of these "mysterious green mineral crystals" to find out any potential uses, he feel that there is no need to collect too much of something that is proven to be hazardous to terran body. With their work done, the convoy begins to leave the scene and head back to the colony. Tray looks back to the corpse of the SCV pilot as he mounts his Vulture. The corpse is now half-covered with green crystals, with the arms are no longer flesh and bones but just a green crystal lattice. Sighing of regret, Tray speeds off to catch up with his convoy. He has a really bad feeling about the events that will unfold in the future.

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(A month later in Mar Sara...)

Tray Randall is sitting inside his office, clutching his head in despair. He is stressed, very stressed!

A month has passed ever since the discovery of the mysterious green mineral crystals. By now, it is very obvious that these mysterious crystals are a threat to the colony.

The crystal fields, initially restricted to areas around the crater, have begun to spread across Mar Sara like weeds. Now, the crystals cover almost 33% of the entire planet surface. Most of the towns and small settlements have been affected by the spread of the crystals. People are getting sick and dying from exposure to the now dubbed 'mysterious green crystals'.

Tray can never forget the scene when he had first witnessed the first death caused by the crystals a month ago. He also recalled the death of the first witness, the prospector. 3 days after reporting sick, the prospector died from lung collapse. When an autopsy was conducted, the surgeons watched in horror as they saw the completely crystallised lungs of the first witness. Days after the outbreak of the 'mysterious green crystals' had begun, thousands of more people had been reported dying from exposure, suffering from breathing difficulties, suppressed immune system, and crystal growth on skin. Those that died had their entire bodies crystallised, which in turn infect others like a plague.

The threat to public health is not just the only problem facing the young Marshal. For the entire month, his small number of scientists tried to uncover the secrets of the 'mysterious green crystals' extracted from the crater site. With limited facilities and outdated research tools, the scientists could not find any ways to stop the crystal growth. They do, however, uncover a strange leeching property of the crystals. According to their reports, the crystals have the ability to leech minerals from the soil through veins that spread widely and run deeply into the soil, which sometimes even reach and leech vespene gas from underground vespene pockets. All the leeched minerals and vespene gas are concentrated into the green crystals. This explains why the crystals are green and why they have the smell of vespene gas. This leeching property is also why people are crystallising from exposure, as even trace amount of such crystals can leech minerals from even terran bodies. Besides the leeching properties, Tray's scientists have also discovered that the crystals produce a toxic mixture of gases and spores that give rise to severe respiratory ailments.

Looking at the bright side, it appears that the 'mysterious green crystals' do have high commercial values and a potential source of resources. After all, they are minerals and vespene gas all packed into a single package. However, Tray knows otherwise. Although earlier experiments have shown that it is possible to harvest the minerals and vespene gas from the crystals through thermal melting, the process is highly hazardous as toxic fumes are created during melting process. He has already lost a few dozen workers to the fumes in those tests.

And now as the crystals spread across Mar Sara, they begin to leech away all available minerals and vespene gas that can be safely harvested. Ordinary blue mineral fields begin to vanish and vespene refineries are running depleted. There are also reports that the crystals are affecting some of the ordinary blue minerals, giving them their properties and making them as hazardous as the 'mysterious green crystals' themselves (2). For his miners, even mining "ordinary blue minerals" can be just as hazardous as mining the green crystals. Fortunately, the "affected blue minerals" do not spread as fast as the green crystals.

Tray has already declared a state of emergency in Mar Sara, and has already called in aid from the Dominion High Command itself. The good news is that the High Command has taken interest of these 'mysterious green crystals' and agreed to send a team of members from the Dominion Science Corps to investigate. The bad news is that this is all the help they can send; no medical aid, no evacuation orders, nothing else. Tray is hoping for the Dominion to send some military response to the situation other than just a team of scientists. As the outbreak of the 'mysterious green crystals' is occurring, Tray has ordered the local militia and the small number of stationed Dominion squadrons to help stop the spread of the crystals through military means. So far, out of all the available weapons, Hellions seem to be the most effective way in clearing the crystal fields. But even as Hellions clear a patch of 'mysterious green crystals', another several more patches will grow back to replace the spot. Citizen unrest is also spreading among the populace. Despite Tray's efforts to end the threat of this "outbreak", the citizens are getting frustrated and angry of the lack of progress in stopping the "outbreak" from their government. Riots and fights have already broken in several settlements, and Tray now also needs more soldiers to quell the riots.

Right now, there is nothing Tray can do, except for waiting for the arrival of the Dominion scientists.

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(Meanwhile at Joeyray's Bar in Mar Sara...)

Jim Raynor has just agreed to form a business proposition with his old friend, Tychus Findlay. Not long ago, the leader of Raynor's Raiders had just supported a rebellion by the colonists, who seemed to grow more and more discontent with the Dominion these days. He knows the reasons why. He has heard tales of the 'mysterious green crystals', which are now spreading across Mar Sara like a plague. Together with Tychus, he will begin "liberating" alien artifacts from the Dominion and selling them to the Moebius Foundation. The timing would be rather perfect, as the Dominion is now more concerned about the crystals and colonist uprisings than their artifacts.

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**Preview**

Next act: First Blood

Dominion scientists have finally arrived in Mar Sara, but they want to take the samples back to Korhal for more detailed research. However, as they prepare to leave Mar Sara and head towards Korhal, they jump into an ambush.

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(1) I guess everyone should know that the 'mysterious green crystals are actually green Tiberium. The putrid smell is the smell of the toxic mixtures of gases and spores from green Tiberium, which I guess it to be stinky. Can you imagine a green toxic gas to smell nice?

(2) Unknown to the terrans, these seemingly ordinary blue minerals are actually blue Tiberium, which in this case forms by leeching much higher concentrations of minerals than green Tiberium.

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My OC profile: Tray Randall

Born: July 4, 2480, Mar Sara

Race: Terran

Gender: Male

Hair: Brown

Eye: Brown

Noticeable feature: Scar above left eyebrow

Affiliation: Marshal of Mar Sara, previously Marine squadron leader in Dominion Marine Corps

Despite his relatively young age, Tray is a highly skilled, courageous and intelligent leader. As a marine, he has shown his capable leadership skills a number of times, including the battle to reclaim Korhal from the clutches of UED during the Brood War. For his leadership skills, Tray is selected to be trained as a Dominion officer, which he passed with flying colours. After his graduation from the Dominion Officer Academy, he was appointed as the new Marshal for the newly re-established colony of his home world.

Unlike most Dominion officers, Tray Randall cares deeply for the welfare and safety of his men. He believes it is his responsibility that keep his men safe at all costs. Every time when someone under his command gets hurt or killed, he will fall into brief moments of regret and sorrow. Hence when this outbreak occurs, Tray is now suffering from a heavy depression.

Tray idolises the former Marshal of Mar Sara, Jim Raynor. He believes it is right for Jim to betray the Confederates during the historic zerg infestation of Mar Sara to save his people. Tray strives that one day, he would do the same if the zergs would one day return and if the Dominion, which he is now beginning to doubt its leadership, refuses to send help.

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And here goes the first act. Tiberium has marked its first public appearance after more than 400 years. The next act will feature the first battle, though it will be only a small skirmish. Please R&R. Thanks!


	3. Act 2: First Blood

This storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

So let's get started!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 2: FIRST BLOOD**

(35 days after the initial outbreak of 'mysterious green crystals' in Mar Sara...)

Tray Randall, accompanied by dozens of his trusted officers, stands smartly in the Mar Sara Starport. Today is the day when members of the Dominion Science Corps would arrive. It's been 35 days; 35 gruelling days since the outbreak of the 'mysterious green crystals' had begun.

For 35 days, Tray had to deal with planet-wide dying population, damaged properties, depleting resources, and colonist unrest. Recently, raids conducted by terrorists had also occurred throughout Dominion installations in Mar Sara. From the reports, the raiders had targeted and stolen alien artifacts owned by the Dominion. Usually, Tray would lead an investigation of it personally, but now it is not the utmost priority to trace back some missing government treasures when his own home world is been devastated by some crystals from outer space.

A loud rumble can be heard, as Tray and his officers look up at the skies. They can see a large, hovering transport ship preparing to make its landing on the starport. It is a Hercules-class dropship, one of the largest and heaviest transport ships ever constructed. Accompanying the Hercules are 4 Vikings, one of the newest and most unique Dominion arsenal. Tray and his officers can only watch in awe as the massive dropship touches down, kicking up lots of dust in its wake. The 4 Vikings also lower their altitude, and begins to transform into their walker mode before touching ground.

Tray is rather impressed with these new Dominion arsenal. As Mar Sara is still a minor colony to the eyes of the Dominion, Tray's local militia forces only have access to the older pre-Brood War weapons such as Vultures and Goliaths. In fact, his newest available arsenals are a few Crucio-class siege tanks, a squadron of Hellions and one single division of Marauder heavy infantries. The rest are all old and outdated weapons. For many months after Tray's been appointed as Marshal of Mar Sara, he had been pleading to the High Command to provide Mar Sara with newer and better weapons so that he can defend his colony better from Kel Morian Combine terrorists and minor zerg invasions, but most of his pleas are turned to deaf ears.

After the Hercules and its escorts touchdown, the hatches of the Hercules open, revealing a team of scientist, officers and marines. The team surveys around their environment, before stepping out of the ship and onto a prepared red welcoming carpet. Tray moves forward greet the leader of the team, an old bearded scientist dressed in a white lab coat.

"Greetings Colonel Doctor Church. My name is Tray Henry Randall, Marshal of Mar Sara. Welcome to Mar Sara." Tray greets as he offers a hand shake.

"Greetings Marshal Randall. It seems you know my name very well. I guess you must be aware of my reputation?"

"Of course, Colonel Doctor! Your articles about the special properties of the minerals found in here made headlines throughout the entire sector! I have to thank you for those articles that make my home planet famous!"

"Glad to hear that. I really feel flattered. All right back to business. I've heard you got some strange crystal infestation?"

"Yes Colonel Doctor! It's been a serious headache to me now. Those things are not just killing my people, they are draining all available 'safe' resources as well. Many colonists are getting frustrated. Hundreds of uprisings have already occurred across the whole colony. I even got some cases of terrorists taking advantage of these moments of chaos to steal alien artifacts from our installations! And just yesterday, my small team of scientists have discovered that these 'mysterious green crystals' are gradually changing the entire climatic patterns of the planet!"

"Really? Now that's interesting... ... Anyway, based on the reports you've sent to me and the photographs of the entire planet taken when our ship's approaching Mar Sara, I did have a rough idea of how bad the problem is. Perhaps we'll delve into this situation when we get to the Magistrate building."

"Of course Colonel Doctor. Please follow my lead."

Tray leads his guests into a number of limousines escorted by Vultures and Hellions. As the convoy moves off, Tray relays one last order to the personnel at the Starport:

"Alright guys, help to refuel that Hercules and its escorts. Bring those pilots to somewhere for their rests. Make sure they feel welcome!"

"Aye aye sir!"

Tray sighs as he mounts his Vulture and speeds off to lead his guests. Deep in his heart, he really hate submitting to these proud, arrogant bureaucrats. But now, he really doesn't have a choice. He has to admit that he needs their help during this crisis.

* * *

(6 hours later at the Mar Sara Physics Research and Development Laboratory...)

Colonel Doctor Church and his team of scientists and officers watch in awe as they see the 'mysterious green crystals' right in their very own eyes. It is hard to believe that these seemingly harmless and beautiful looking crystals can cause so much destruction. Of course, from the reports they have read, they know these crystals are dangerous. That is why now they are looking at one such crystal that is safely locked in a transparent vespene drum (1).

"So... ... this is the thing that is given you so much problem eh, Marshal Randall?"

"Yes, Colonel Doctor! You've all seen what these crys can do along our journey."

"If your scientists reports are correct, then this means that these crystals have the same values of normal minerals and vespene gas, am I not right?"

"Yes, Colonel Doctor!"

"Then this is absolutely amazing! Just look at these things! Imagine their potential! With these things, we can make mineral and vespene gathering as easy as ABC. By seeding them onto a new planet, we can use them to help gather up all minerals and vespene gas in a short period of time, then we can harvest them in one full sweep! Isn't it amazing?"

"But Colonel Doctor, we know how dangerous these things can be, right? Look at what they have done to our planet! If we spread these things throughout the sector, more people will die! Even if we can use them to make resource gathering easier, the fumes created from the harvesting process can kill lots of workers! It's too much of a risk, Colonel Doctor!"

"Yes, I know. There will be hazards involved, but that's just another reason why it's amazing!"

"Pardon me, Colonel Doctor, but what do you mean exactly?"

"Can't you see that they can kill? Doesn't it mean something? It means that it can also be weaponised! An effective colony-destroying agent that can wipe out populations in a planet within months, and a resource concentrator that concentrates all available resource from an entire planet, all ready for collection! The Dominion must have these crystals researched thoroughly! Guards, prepare to load up the samples back on board of the Hercules."

"But Colonel Doctor..."

"This is an order from the Dominion High Command itself! We are ordered to come here to collect these samples of the 'mysterious green crystals' and bring them back to the Dominion Science Corps Head Lab in Korhal for thorough research. Do you understand me Marshal?"

"Y... Yes Colonel Doctor..."

"Good! Marshal Randall, would you please get your men to help load up the samples?"

"But what about the situation in Mar Sara?"

"Don't worry, marshal. Once the samples reach our head lab, we will uncover all its properties as soon as possible. If we find out how to destroy the these crystals, Mar Sara shall be the first colony to know how. In the mean time, the Dominion will send medical aids and soldiers to pacify this outbreak."

"How long will that be, Colonel Doctor?"

"I would say... ... a week or 2. I believe you can handle this by yourself marshal. You have already done so for more than a month, surely an extra wait of a few weeks or so wouldn't be too much of a problem, right marshal?"

"R... ... Right... ..."

In his mind, Randall does not feel right at all. In fact, if the Dominion guards are not around, he would have already blasted off that old man's skull right on the spot.

'The situation in Mar Sara has already reached a critical level, and they still want me to wait for a week! What the heck is wrong with them? People are dying and an entire colony is in danger, yet all they care is money and weapons? Damn these government bureaucrats!' Tray curses and swears in his mind.

Tray is now wondering what would the previous marshal Jim Raynor would do if he is the one dealing with this crisis. Maybe he would rebel against the Dominion to save his people? Or maybe he would decide to hold out for a few more weeks? Anyway, he can't fight against the authorities. Not now. He cannot risk the entire Dominion armada knocking at his doorsteps when he is having so much internal crisis. Now he has no other choice but to comply.

* * *

(12 hours later, back in Mar Sara Starport...)

All the samples of the 'mysterious green crystals', safely locked in vespene drums, are now finished loaded up into the Hercules. With the Hercules and the Vikings refuelled and the pilots fully rested, the Dominion team of scientists and their escorts are prepared to leave and return to Korhal.

'I hope those bastards won't eat up their words.' Tray mentally speaks, as he watches the team enters the Hercules. From a distance, he watches the Hercules and the Viking escorts take off, leaving Mar Sara to its own fate.

'Well, it' back to on my own again... ...' Tray curses mentally.

* * *

(30 minutes later, out in the orbit of Mar Sara...)

The Hercules dropship and its 4 Viking escorts are continuing their journey off away from Mar Sara. It would be another few more minutes before they would fully escape the gravitational pull of the planet and enter warp-space (2).

"Hercules to all Vikings, check if your hyper-drives are all functional."

"Viking leader, hyper-drive fully functional."

"Viking-2, fully functional."

"Viking-3, fully functional."

"Viking-4, hyper-drive is fully functional and ready to go."

"Hercules, hyper-drive fully functional. All Vikings, prepare for warp-in in 1 more minute. On my mark..."

"Hold on, Hercules. I have picked up multiple bogey readings in our way."

"What! Are you positive, Viking leader?"

"Viking leader to Hercules, I am positive. Viking leader to Viking-2 to 4, do you pick up the readings?"

"Viking-2, affirmative, I do pick up readings of bogeys."

"Viking-3, affirmative."

"Viking-4 , affirmative. Bogeys are heading towards our direction."

"Hercules to all Vikings, have you confirmed the identities of the bogeys?"

"Viking leader to Hercules, negative. Signal readings do not match any of our known archives. Scans show no presence of plasma shield or biological components. Most likely to be teran. Identity of bogeys are still unknown."

"Hercules to Viking leader, what are the nature of the bogey readings do you get?"

"Viking leader to Hercules, I can't really fully understand the nature of the bogeys. Scans indicate a dozen small fighter class bogeys accompanied with one light corvette heading towards our direction, but I can't be sure what are they or what faction they are from."

This is something that the Hercules pilot and the Viking escorts never expected. They expect that there may be possibilities of chance encounters of small numbers of wild zergs or terrorists from Raynor's raiders or Kel Morian Combine. But their scan archives indicate none of the above. In fact, the nature of the readings of the bogeys do not match any of the known weapons or space-faring objects. So exactly what are these things?

Another cause of concern is the number of bogeys appearing in their scans. What if they are hostiles? If they are, their numbers would mean that the Hercules and its escorts would stand no chance against them.

The Hercules pilot, deciding to maintain optimistic, try to contact the bogeys.

"Hercules to unknown bogeys. You are entering restricted fly zone and hence-by violating Dominion air space. Leave immediately or we'll treat you as hostiles. Do you copy?"

No answer... ...

"Hercules to bogeys. I repeat. You are entering restricted fly zone and hence-by violating Dominion air space. Leave immediately or we'll treat you as hostiles. Do you copy?"

Still no answer... ...

"Viking leader to Hercules, bogeys incoming at high speed. Estimating contact of bogeys in 3, 2, 1..."

As soon as the lead Viking pilot has finished counting, the small group of Dominion ships begin to see the bogeys' outline from a distance. To their surprise, they have never ever seen anything like these... ...

* * *

Approaching them at high speed are 12 small fighters and 1 small corvette of never seen before models. All of them are coloured in black and red paint jobs.

The fighters are very small even for fighter standards; smaller than the Wraith-class fighters or even than the Mutalisks. The airframe of the fighters are very slim and streamlined, with a pair of turbo boost engines on each side of the airframe. The cockpit is round, with a strange red bulb as a cockpit cover. Positioned each at both sides of the nose are a battery of rockets.

The single corvette is streamlined, cylindrical and laterally flat. It has a pair of corvette-class turbo boost engines at each side of its hull. 2 antennae stick out from the top of the mid hull section. Fixed at the front of the corvette, there seems to be a special cannon of some sort.

Besides the colouration, all the bogeys seem to share a common figure; all bear symbols of a black and red hexagon with a scorpion tail within.

None of the Dominion pilots in the scene have ever seen such symbols before. One thing is clear, however, is that all the bogeys in front of them are armed; definitely not a welcome party... ...

* * *

"Hercules to bogeys, this is your final warning. You are entering restricted fly zone and hence-by violating Dominion air space. Leave immediately or we'll end this nonsense with force. Do you copy?"

This time, there is response from the bogeys; a pair of rockets flying towards one of the Vikings, fired from one of the unknown fighter.

"What the... ...!"

The rockets slam into the middle of the Viking, splitting up the entire airframe of the Viking into 2.

"Viking-4 to Viking leader, I'm hit! I'm hit! I'm... KABOOOOOOM... ... bzzzzt... ..." the voice of the doomed Viking pilot is cut short as the doomed Viking explodes in deep space.

"Dammit! We've lost Viking-4. Viking leader to Viking-2 and 3. Bogeys confirmed as hostiles! Engage! Engage!"

Recovering from the initial shock of the loss of their comrade, the remaining Vikings begin to split into battle formation and engage with the enemies. Even if they are outnumbered, they are not going run off without putting up a fight.

The lead Viking has one of the bogey fighter locked on in his targeting system, as he fires off a pair of Lanzer torpedoes. The torpedoes speed through space and hit its mark, blowing the bogey fighter into bits.

"Take that ya asshole!"

His team mates are also scoring kills, but the numbers game is soon beginning to catch up with them.

"Dammit, there's too many of them!"

"Viking-2 is hit!"

"Viking-3 to Viking leader, I'm losing control... ... KABOOOOOM... ... bzzzzzzzzt... ..."

The lead Viking pilot can only watch helplessly as another fellow Viking blows up in deep space. The other remaining one has fire trailing behind one of its engine, in a critical condition. The lead Viking pilot curses his luck. The enemies far outnumber them. Although the enemies are small and easy to destroy, they are also much faster and more agile, making the Lanzer torpedoes hard to lock on and hit them. As the Vikings struggle to deal with this sudden ambush, a distress call from the Hercules can be heard.

"Hercules to Viking leader, we are hit! We are hit! Ship integrity current at 75%! We need to jump through warp-space right now!"

"Viking leader to Hercules, affirmative! Prepare to jump through warp-space!"

The lead Viking pilot look at the other remaining Viking; its engines are badly damaged, and most likely would not be able to make any jumps. This means that the wounded Viking would not survive this encounter. It does sound cruel but the lead Viking pilot has no choice; he has to protect the Hercules at all cost. Then, just as the lead Viking pilot is in deep thoughts, he sees that wounded Viking taking another 6 more hits from enemy fighters, blowing up as a result. Another Viking lost.

With the 3rd Viking lost, the lead Viking pilot knows that there is no hope for him to win this battle. The best option is to retreat with the Hercules back to Korhal. There, they will report this treachery to Emperor Mengsk, and hope appropriate force will be dealt with to whoever responsible for this ambush.

* * *

(Meanwhile, inside the Hercules...)

Colonel Doctor Church knows something wrong is going on. It should be the time when the ship is going to jump into warp-space, yet it does not happen. As he is still wondering what is going on out there, a series of sudden jolts can be felt across the entire ship. Sometime is going heavily wrong indeed. Church decides to look for the piloting crew to find out what is going on.

As he barges into the cockpit, he demands answers from the pilot.

"What's going on out there? We should be jumping into warp-space by now!"

"It's an ambush, sir! We have been ambushed!"

"What! By who? Kel Morians? Raiders? Umojans? Zergs?"

"Neither of them, sir! The enemies are attacking with numerous never before seen fighters!"

"What about the escorts?"

"Only one left!"

"Then what are you waiting for! Charge the hyper-drive and quickly get us out of this mess!"

"Yes sir!"

The Hercules pilot pulls down the hyper-drive lever, preparing jump into warp-space immediately.

* * *

(Looking back at the attackers...)

For the pilots of the attacking fighter, the plans are going well so far. The enemies seem to be getting more and more disorientated by their numbers, speed and agility. Even though their enemies have much heavier firepower and armour, they are still getting slaughtered in their onslaught. 3 of the enemy escorts have already been destroyed, and their primary target is now taking in damage. Although 5 of their brothers have also been lost as well, it would be a matter of time before the last escort and the primary target end up as scrap metal.

These fighters are the newest generation of Venoms, the most common single-seated fighter developed and commissioned by the Brotherhood of Nod. These are the fastest and most agile space and atmospheric aircraft developed by the Brotherhood. Equipped with a pair of rocket batteries and an advanced system of sensory detectors, Venoms are Nod's ideal choice for fighter and scout aircraft. Compared to earlier generations of Venoms hundreds of years ago, this generation of Venoms are capable of space travel and space combat, though their basic exterior design remains unchanged.

The lead Venom pilot is having a nice time dodging Lanzer torpedoes and peppering the Hercules with his rockets, when he notice that the engines of his target are glowing very brightly; an indication that his target is now preparing to escape through warp-space.

"Venom leader to Medusa, primary target is about to escape into warp-space. Target the primary target with an EMP missile, now!"

"Medusa to Venom leader, order confirmed! Launching EMP missile! Fire!"

The light corvette, now identified as a Medusa-class support corvette, fires an EMP missile from under its hull and towards the Hercules. Before the Hercules can make its jump, the EMP missile slams right into the hull of the massive dropship. An EMP wave can be seen spreading across the massive ship after the impact, as the ship now stays unpowered and motionless in space.

"Medusa to Venom leader, target successfully EMPed."

"Got it, Medusa! Venom leader to all Venoms, primary target disabled. Destroy primary target immediately!"

* * *

(Back in the Hercules...)

"What's going on? Aren't we going to jump into warp-space? Why are we still here?" Colonel Doctor Church asks, in a state of panic.

"All systems have ceased to function! Entire ship is unpowered! It seems the enemy corvette has us locked down! We are now a sitting duck!"

"What! Can you transmit a distress call back to Mar Sara?"

"Negative, sir! Even distress signal transmission system has ceased to function! The whole ship is now dead in the space! We're screwed!"

After hearing the replies, Church knows what has truly happened; they are going to die. Colonel Doctor Church slumps onto the floor, knees feeling weak after knowing the revelation. As Colonel Doctor Church squats on the floor, stupefied, the entire piloting crew in the Hercules are in a state of panic, struggling to restore power to their doomed ship.

The Venoms are raining their rockets onto the Hercules. With only one Viking left to protect the Hercules, there is hardly anything the lone Viking can do to tip the scale of battle. Still, the Hercules remain intact, though severely damaged from the multiple rocket hits from the Venoms.

"Venom leader to Medusa, primary target is too sturdy. Destroy primary target with Flux Blaster now!"

"Medusa to Venom leader, affirmative! Flux blaster, charging... ..."

The main cannon of the Medusa begins to glow, as it steadily charges its special weapon and aims at the Hercules.

"Flux blaster firing!"

The Medusa fires its Flux blaster, a straight yellow beam towards its target.

The Hercules dropship takes the full impact of the Flux blaster, which begins to slowly break apart the entire hull of the massive dropship. Even after impact, the Basilisk continues to line its Flux blaster to its target. As the yellow beam continues to strike the ship surface, the integrity of the ship hull is beginning to break apart at an exponential rate.

Then, it happens.

The Hercules blows up in space. The massive ship explodes like fireworks. It breaks apart into tiny pieces of scrap metal. Obviously there will be no survivors. All the 'mysterious green crystals' loaded in the ship are gone as well.

* * *

The lead Viking pilot watches in despair as the Hercules gets destroyed by the unknown enemy forces. He has failed his mission. He has lost his team. And now, he is all alone.

Just as he realises that he is now alone, he feels a huge jolt to the entire Viking as a rocket strikes the left fuselage. Red warning lights on the control panel begins to light up. Realising that he is now in trouble, the lead Viking pilot struggles to reach for the hyper-drive lever. Now, his survival is what matters the most.

Sadly, before the last Viking can make its escape, another wave of rockets slam right into the Viking's hull. More warning lights light up and warning buzzers start to sound out in the entire cockpit. The lead Viking pilot looks at the control panel and realises that the hyper-drive is now destroyed. Realising that there will be no escape, the lead Viking pilot sends out one final distress signal back to Mar Sara, before the final Viking gets obliterated by another barrage of rockets.

The attackers cheer as they watch the final Viking and the Hercules being reduced into balls of flame. They have succeeded their mission of not letting the Terran Dominion to learn about Tiberium. Kane will be pleased. They have drawn the first blood... ...

* * *

(Somewhere in Koprulu Sector, Nod Hideout...)

"COMMANDER, DOMINION DROPSHIP DESTROYED! PRIMARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

A mechanical voice sounds across a command room, where a single individual is looking at a horizontal screen; a command interface. The voice is deep, and sounds masculine.

"Very well. LEGION, relay this news to Kane. Tell him that we can prepare for the liberation of Mar Sara."

"UNDERSTOOD, COMMANDER! TRANSMITTING NEW MESSAGE, STANDING BY... ... MESSAGE SENT SUCCESSFULLY TO KANE... ... ESTABLISHING VIDEO UPLINK... ..."

A hologram projector lights up, showing Kane. The commander bows to Kane, in which Kane speaks:

"You have done well, my son! As expected from what I've learnt from your lineage. Good work commander! Now, as Mar Sara lies in a state of chaos, and with their only lifeline cut, the colonists will be vulnerable. They will be desperate, they will be abandoned and they will be angry! Commander, prepare your forces for the Mar Sara insurrection!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next act: the Quarantine

With the mysterious disappearance of the team of scientists, the Terran Dominion finally decides to take some action; by isolating and quarantine the entire planet. Colonist unrest is now going to reach a breaking point.

* * *

(1) Vespene drums are the containers that SCVs use to contain their vespene gas.

(2) For those who have watched Starcraft 2 cinematic trailers may wonder why _Hyperion_ can jump into warp-space in the atmosphere without leaving the planet's gravitational pull. I would like to clarify that this rule is made by myself. In my view, it is a safety protocol for all terran ships to leave the planet's gravitational influence before jumping into warp-space, except for emergency situations then the protocol is allowed be overridden to warp in the atmosphere.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Venom

Role: Light, single-seated multi-purpose scout fighter

Armament: Twin rocket batteries, advanced scanners

Appearance: Similar to the tiny C&C4 Venoms in terms of appearance. Except for engines are similar to smaller versions of the space engines used by the Vikings instead of turbo jet engines.

With a history dating back to pre-ascension era during the Tiberium War in more than 400 years ago. The Venom still remains as one of the most favourite aircraft of the Brotherhood of Nod. Their small and light design makes them cheap and easy to build, with VTOL system available for quick deployment, enabling Nod air-force to mass up huge quantities of them in a short time. Though almost unarmoured, Nod commanders often makes up this weakness with sheer numbers. The basic design of Venom is almost unchanged in this newest generation, though the Venom is now capable of travelling and fighting in both space and atmospheric conditions.

My Nod Unit Profile: Medusa

Role: Support light corvette

Armament: Flux blaster beam, EMP missiles, Matrix solidifier

Appearance: Similar to the Medusa in C&C4 in terms of appearance. Space engines are used instead of turbo jet engines.

Like most of Nod current arsenals, Medusa remains almost unchanged in terms of its role and design. Like most current Nod aircrafts, Medusa is now capable of space travel. Its primary weapon, the Flux blaster, is a special beam cannon designed to destroy heavy armour and structures. EMP missiles are launched not just to drain shields or energy from target in an area, but also disables mechanical units in the target area as well. . Finally, its Matrix Solidifier instantly repairs all surrounding friendly mechanical units.

* * *

Phew, finally done with the first battle scene. Hope you all enjoy it. More battles will be coming up in future acts. Once again, feel free to R&R


	4. Act 3: The Quarantine

Firstly thanks for your review SulliMike23. I was really puzzled about the lack of reviews ever since this story got published, until yours appeared. Thanks!

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

So let's get started!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 3: THE QUARANTINE**

(Inside Mar Sara Marshal's Office...)

Marshal Tray Randall is now feeling tensed. Just minutes ago, his men from the Mar Sara Starport have received a distress call from the lead Viking escort of the team of Dominion scientists that have just departed his planet. They are carrying a cargo of the 'mysterious green crystals' that are supposed to be brought back to Korhal for further research and analysis, so that there is a chance that an effective method of controlling these unknown crystals can be found. Even though he does not like these scientists, but they are probably Mar Sara's only hope. Now, their last hope is gone, and Tray is feeling that he is in deep trouble.

His troubles are not going to be just about the outbreak; a team of some of the most brilliant scientist of the Terran Dominion has just been lost in an ambush, just right outside his planet. This means that even if the Mar Sara Colonial Militia is not responsible for the attack, he himself will be held responsible for not keeping them safe. If the Dominion High Command issues an investigation, he would definitely be placed under suspicion, or worse penalised and stripped off from his rank. He recalls the hours before the doomed flight, when he offered to escort the Hercules and the Vikings off Mar Sara with some of his best Wraith pilots; only to be rejected, probably out of distrust.

And now, he has to answer to the Dominion High Command, who has just called into his office. The Dominion High Command has also lost contact to their team of scientists just outside the orbit of Mar Sara, and they demand answers.

"I told you sir, I don't know! I offered escorts but they refused... ... Yes that is right sir... ... So should I conduct an investigation right now... ... What do you mean no... ... So you're sending the Omega Squadron down for investigation sir?"

Now Tray is baffled. Usually the Dominion High Command would have sent down small teams of Internal Security Division members to investigate unknown terrorist attacks, but to send down an entire military squadron is really something out of ordinary.

"Yes sir, I will assist the Omega Squadron with my fullest once they arrive!"

Although Tray feels suspicious about the Dominion High Command sending an entire Omega Squadron to investigate the attack onto the scientist team, he thinks he needs the squadron to come down here. With his planet devastated by the 'mysterious green crystals' outbreak and the riots all around the colony, he needs more military personnel to assist in maintaining order among the colonists. Hopefully, with the help of the entire squadron, they will be able to send in another shipment of the 'mysterious green crystals' samples safely to Korhal for further analysis.

* * *

(3 days later...)

Tray and his men watch in awe at the Mar Sara Starport as the entire Omega Squadron arrive. In the skies, they can see a dozen or more Behemoth-class Battlecruisers escorted by hundreds of Vikings. Command centres and other military structures are cruising slowly through the air in lift-off mode, ready to land in their assigned spots. Hundreds of new Medivac dropships and dozens of Hercules dropships land down, releasing their cargo of troops. SCVs, Marines, Marauders, Reapers, Hellions and Crucio Siege Tanks all pour out from their transports. It is an impressive sight indeed.

Walking out from one of the Hercules is Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson, the commander of the Omega Squadron. Tray recognises him and approaches to greet him,

"Greetings, sir! The name's Tray Henry Randall, Marshal of Mar Sara. Welcome to..."

"Cut the crap, boy! Time is running short so we'll going straight to the point! Now listen up, the emperor has made a few decrees for ya, so ya better listen carefully!"

"Uh... yes sir!"

Tray feels annoyed that the commander of Omega Squadron actually refuses to answer his friendly greeting.

"The Emperor has declared the colony of Mar Sara in a state of quarantine. From now on, no one should ever enter or leave this planet! The Omega Squadron will set up blockades around the entire planet to ensure that no one will try to get off or get in. Anyone caught trying to breach the security shall be dealt with deadly force!"

"WHAT!"

"The Omega Squadron will be carrying out a thorough investigation of the destruction of Colonel Doctor Church's research team. In the mean time, the Mar Sara Colonial Militia will be detained throughout the whole course of the investigation!"

"But you can't..."

"Any further research of the 'mysterious green crystals' shall be conducted in Mar Sara soil only! The Omega Squadron will expect full assistance from the personnel of Mar Sara Physics Research and Development Laboratory!"

"But sir, my scientists..."

"Throughout this course of quarantine, the highest command in Mar Sara will be handed from the Marshal to me! I will be assuming the highest command in this planet until the quarantine is declared over! In the mean time, the Marshal is hereby ordered to conduct investigations regarding the missing artifacts in Mar Sara installations. He will be allowed to bring along one squad of militia for the investigation. These are the decrees of the Emperor of Terran Dominion Arcturus Mengsk, do you hear them!"

"Sorry sir, but I have to object! My colonists are all dying from this outbreak and I need an evacuation order to get them out of this planet! I can't allow this quarantine to take effect before they even have a chance to get out! Please, evacuate the locals first, then quarantine! I will gladly conduct the investigation after the evacuations are done..."

"As I have just said, I now assume the highest command in this planet and I order you to stand down and go to complete your assigned mission! I am the one who shall decide the fate of the colonists here and I say no! This planet is now under quarantine and I cannot allow anyone to leave and spread these crystals across the entire Dominion territory! Do you hear me?"

"BUT SIR, PEOPLE ARE DYING OUT THERE! WE NEED TO GET THEM OUT OF THIS ROCK RIGHT NOW OR THEY WILL PERISH!"

"AND I SAY NOW I AM THE ONE WHO COMMANDS EVERYTHING ON THIS ROCK AND I SAY NO! STAND DOWN SOLDIER OR I SHALL ARREST YOU AND CHARGE YOU FOR DEFIANCE OF ORDERS FROM A SUPERIOR! NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND GO FIND THE THIEVES RESPONSIBLE FOR STEALING DOMINION PROPERTIES, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Tray is furious, very furious. He knows something is not right for one entire Omega Squadron to arrive here just to conduct an investigation regarding a terrorist attack, but the last thing he would realise is that now his home planet has been placed under state of quarantine, without even evacuating the colonists beforehand.

In his mind, he can roughly guess why such orders are made. The truth is that the Dominion High Command is still interested about the 'mysterious green crystals'. They wish to conduct thorough research about these crystals but dare not risk losing samples or scientists to ambush such as the one that took out Colonel Doctor Church's team just days ago. If they have an armada protecting their precious cargo and their scientists, they can defend themselves from such ambush, but they will expose the existence of such unique item to enemies such as the Kel Morian Combine or the Umojan Protectorate. They do not want people to get in or off this planet so that the crystals can be developed as a new secret weapon for the Dominion. The Dominion is detaining the entire local militia because they are putting the local militia as suspects for the attack, since it takes place just outside Mar Sara. This puts him as a suspect as well, which is why now Lieutenant Commander Reikson is now assuming highest command on this planet. And finally, the Dominion is still caring for their own treasures rather than the colonists of fringe worlds such as Mar Sara, which is why they are ordering him to investigate this matter instead of helping the colonists.

Tray Randall is really furious indeed. Luckily he is calm enough not to attack the commander of Omega Squadron right now. He knows that if he loses his cool and does anything rash, he would be arrested right in the spot. There is no way he can take on one entire Omega Squadron by himself. Cursing and swearing in his mind, he has no other choice right now except for obeying those orders.

"I... ... I understand sir! I heard the decrees of the Emperor and I will obey to his command! I will hence-by pass down the highest command on Mar Sara to you sir!"

"Very well, soldier!"

"Sir! Permission for me to select my team for investigations regarding the missing artifacts, sir?"

"Good! Permission granted! But they will have to be first interrogated by my men and deemed to be out of suspicion of terrorism and treason before they will be allowed in your team. Now go!"

"Yes sir!"

Tray is damned pissed with the orders. He knows his men are innocent, yet they still have to be interrogated by those thugs from the Omega Squadron. He has heard about the bad reputation of how those thugs will beat up their suspects to get false charges. But the matter that concerns to him the most is the fate of the colonists. He knows that once the colonists realise that they are under quarantined, all hell will soon break loose.

* * *

(Next day...)

Situated 50 miles away from Mar Sara City, lay a small town called Dusty Rocks. This small settlement was established during the recolonisation of Mar Sara years ago. For the colonists settling in this small peaceful town, mineral mining is an important part of their livelihood.

But now, things have changed for the worse for these colonists. Since the outbreak of these 'mysterious green crystals' had begun, Dusty Rocks became one of the settlements that got hit hard. The crystals had spread across mineral fields, draining away the safe minerals and making mining operations almost impossible. Many colonists have also fallen ill from exposure of the crystals, resulting in mass deaths across the town. With little aid provided from the government, the crisis had not turned for the better and this small lively town is slowly turning into a ghost town. And now, just yesterday, the colonists have heard the news that the Terran Dominion had quarantined the entire planet and barred entrance into or exit out off the planet. This is means that the colonists had no way out. To make matters worse, the Omega Squadron, which had taken over command of the colony, refused to send any forms of aid to the affected settlements. The only things they do are sending regular patrols into affected settlements to police them.

Right now, in a bar located in the centre of the town, a small group of colonists are gathered around a table, discussing about the current trends of events surrounding their town.

"So Bob, you said your mama just died from those crys, right?"

"Yah... ... It's all those bastards' fault! If they just spare us some free meds, she wouldn't be emerald by now... ... Damn those government assholes... ..." The drunken man in the middle of the group speaks out.

"These bastard marines are all too much! They just beat up my dad a few hours ago just because he is asking for medicine for my little brother! I hate them! I HATE THEM!"

"What happened to Marshal Randall? Isn't he supposed to be in charge?"

"Didn't you hear the news, Earl? The Omega Squadron has just taken over of everything!"

"Darn! I really miss our good little marshal. Even if he did not succeed in clearing those crys, at least his guys don't beat us up for nothing."

"Hey guys, listen! If we let this goes on! We're all gonna die! I say we should start fighting for our rights!"

"What are you suggesting Jake?"

"We resist! Remember the uprising out there in Riksville just weeks ago (1)? We can do that too! Just gather up everyone in town, and we can fight off those bastards too!"

"Are you insane? The reason why those guys out there in Riksville live because of some extra help by some mercenaries. The government soldiers did not put up much of a fight because that's when the outbreak had just started! Now things are so much different, kid! We have no weapons! We have no backings! And not to mention there's one whole squadron of government bastards not hesitating to cut us down!"

"Or what if there is someone going to back you up?"

Upon hearing the last sentence, the whole group looks back, trying to find the source of the voice. They see a man at the bar entrance, dressed under a dark black cloak, with a hood covering up his face. Silence runs through the bar as the cloaked man enters and approaches the group.

"Hey, pal! You don't look like a local down here, what's your business in here?" One of the men decide to break the silence and ask.

"I've come to give you all an offer! You all wish to free yourself from the clutches of the Dominion, and I'm going to help you to achieve it."

"And how are you, just one man, gonna do that?" the drunkard named Bob asks.

"Actually, I am merely a messenger from my organisation. I can assure all of you that everything you all need will be prepared by the prophet. Just follow our lead, and our organisation will help you to liberate Mar Sara."

"Hah! As if we can believe in a stranger like you! Let me tell something pal, many other groups of weirdos have tried the same thing, only to get wiped out of existence by the Dominion! So who do you and your little group think you won't end up the same?"

"Follow me and you shall see for yourself."

Just then, a tremor can be felt outside the bar. A rumble sounds out loud and the people go out to see what causes the tremor. Just outside the bar entrance, a strange vehicle bursts through the ground from below. It is painted red and black, with 3 red bubble windows for driver cabin. It is long and cylindrical, run by 4 wheels and a pair of threads. At the nose of this vehicle bears a large drill tip, which is apparently for the burrowing function of the vehicle. The vehicle bears a symbol on each side: a red and black hexagon with a scorpion tail within. All the people, who have never seen such a strange vehicle before, stare at it in awe.

"What the hell is that, pal? Is that your ride?"

"In a way, yes! This is the Reckoner. But our organisation has more than just this one Reckoner. Follow me and you shall learn more."

"Nice try pal, but I don't think tunnelling will help us win against the Dominion. You'll need something better than that to impress us."

"Oh we do! As I have just said, this Reckoner is only a tiny tip of the ice berg of what our organisation is preparing. We have a lot of things that you will all need... ..."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like a cure for the so called 'mysterious green crystal'... ..."

Now this catches everyone's attention... ...

"What! No! You must be lying! How can there be a cure for such a thing! How can you possibly have something that the Dominion doesn't?"

"That shows why we can succeed against the Dominion. If you doubt my words, then watch this... ..."

The cloaked man puts his hand into his cloak and takes out something; something that will shock the entire group of townspeople. All the colonists immediately step back in shock and fear as they witness what the man is holding with his bare hands... ...

"No way... ... That guy must be insane! Holding that cursed crys with his bare hands! He's gonna crystallise!"

"No look! He's been holding that crys for more than a minute, and nothing's going on with him! This must be some kind of a trick! That crys must be a fake!"

"Oh no my friends! This is real, just watch!"

The cloaked man throws the crystal onto the ground, which starts to slowly expand after it touches ground. The townspeople are impressed, as the cloaked man bends down and picks up the crystals again.

"No way... ... Who the heck are you?"

"My name is not of utmost importance. The important thing is you all should have seen for yourselves. We have the cure for this outbreak. We know what these crystals are. We know how to tame them. And we know how to defeat the Dominion. Follow me and you'll learn more. You will have nothing to lose, do you?"

Despite scepticism still among the colonists, they do agree with the cloaked man. Regardless whether this man is pulling out a stunt or not, his words does hold some truths. They know that the Dominion would never save them, so following this stranger may be the only way out.

"Alright! We'll like to see what you'll gonna offer. But let me warn you: if it's all a trick, we'll kill ya!"

"Rest assured! Everything you'll about to see are no hallucinations... ..."

* * *

(After 10 minutes of tunnelling...)

The Reckoner stops inside a man-made tunnel of an underground bunker. The colonists are shocked to see that such man-made structures had been built under their town all the time, without them knowing.

"What the... ..." the colonists exclaim as they survey their surroundings after exiting the Reckoner. They find themselves in a surprisingly spacious tunnel lined with steel reinforcements. In front of them is appears to be a large storage vault.

"Wha... ... When did you guys build this thing? How come the government doesn't know this?"

"We have our ways, now just follow me." The cloaked man replies.

The group follows the cloaked man into the storage vault, who opens it by entering an access code at the gate terminal, followed by a retina scan. Inside the vault, there is a hallway leading to several chambers. All around them, they can see symbols of a red and black hexagon with a scorpion tail within, which they presume must be the organisation symbol. The group follows the man into one of the chambers, which is labelled: ARMS STORAGE.

Inside this chamber, the group stare in awe at a large stockpile of weapons and armoury. There are thousands of pulse rifles, guasse pistols, grenade launchers and even some C-14 gausse rifles used by the Terran Marines. There are grenades, explosives and other demolition packs. Lining at the sides of the chambers are CMC power suits and some kind of power suits but of slimmer and lighter design with in-built wrist-mounted guns. There are also crates of ballistic armour present.

"Hey! What are these bottles for?" one of the colonists pick up a beer bottle, filled with some kind of a liquid, from a stash of them on the ground.

"Careful with that, my friend. The liquid inside is a highly volatile solution." Warns the cloaked man.

"Wow, that's a great stash of weapons and armour for a militia group. But how are we gonna match against Dominion tanks?"

"Follow me."

The man leads the group into another chamber, labelled: GARAGE.

Inside this chamber, lines an impressive arrays of vehicles, with each kind lined in 2 neat single files. Some of them are recognizable, such as Vultures, Hellions, Goliaths and even a few Arclite-class Siege Tanks. Other vehicles are new to them, which includes the Reckoners.

"Hey, with these many vehicles, maybe we can fight the Dominions... ..."

"But what about the ships? Let's not forget to mention the darned battlecruisers orbiting around the planet!"

The cloaked man replies:

"Don't worry, this vault is just only one of the hundreds of other vaults constructed underneath of Mar Sara surface. Dusty Rocks shall not be alone in this war for liberation. My other brothers have already rallied many other colonists from other settlements all across Mar Sara to join in with this insurrection. Even if the enemy is the entire Omega Squadron, they will be no match against an entire armed colony. As for the Dominion warships, do not worry about them. The prophet will have them dealt with in no time."

"Who are you people? Who's the prophet you're speaking about? Are they really that powerful?"

"Follow me and you'll have your answers."

The group follows the man to another chamber, which is not labelled, except for a large symbol of the hexagon with scorpion tail painted on the door.

Unlike other chambers, this one is empty, with only several seats surrounding a huge hologram projector in the middle.

"Gentlemen, take a seat please."

After everyone is seated, the cloaked man activates the hologram projector, which lights up, showing a bald man with a moustache and goatee dressed in a black robe.

"Greetings, colonists of Mar Sara! Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kane, leader and prophet of the Brotherhood of Nod."

"Brotherhood of Nod? Never heard of it... ..." one of the colonists remark.

"I know that many of you may have never heard of us, but believe it or not, we have been watching over this planet, even before the zerg invasion had taken place. We have watched how the cowardly Confederates abandon the previous batch of colonists to their own fate during the zerg infestation, and how they have been rescued by the Sons of Korhal, only to be used as fodders for their future battles. We have seen your recolonisation of the planet after the Great War and the Brood War, only to be once again, abandoned to your own fate by the Dominion in this so called outbreak. We have seen enough, and we have decided to help to liberate you."

"And how are you gonna do that?" the drunkard named Bob asks jokingly.

"You may be wondering how we can defeat the Dominion. Fear not my friends, we have an edge over your oppressors. The answer is this!"

The hologram projection shows the man known as Kane holding out the 'mysterious green cyrstals' with his bare hands, just like the demonstration by the cloaked man earlier before (2). Even though it is not the first the first time they see such a stunt, the colonists of Dusty Rocks still can't believe such stunt can be possible.

"This, my friends, is called Tiberium. To the Brotherhood of Nod, Tiberium is the key to everything. We have been using and controlling Tiberium for more than hundreds of years! Tiberium is the centre of our life! To those who are unfamiliar to Tiberium, it can be a curse. But to those who can tame it, Tiberium is a gift! Join the Brotherhood if you want to rid yourself out of the curse, and embrace this new gift! Join the Brotherhood, and I would give you freedom and liberation from the tyranny of the Terran Dominion! Join the Brotherhood, and I would show you the new possibilities of Tiberium! Join the Brotherhood, and I would lead you to a new destiny! Brothers, spread the words. Tell everyone that the time for us to unite against a common enemy has finally come! Let us unite for a brighter future! LET US UNITE TO FULFILL OUR DESTINY! ONE VISION! ONE PURPOSE! PEACE THROUGH POWER!"

As soon as Kane finishes, the hologram projector shuts down, signifying the end of his speech. Meanwhile, the cloaked man takes out a few syringes from out from a first aid box. Inside each syringe contains a greenish solution.

"What is that thing?" one of the colonists ask.

"This, my friend, is the cure that you have been desiring all the time. With this, Tiberium will no longer be your enemy, but your faithful ally. You will enjoy its benefits if you agree with joining us in this insurrection. There are many others that have accepted and joined us, what about you?"

The colonists look at each other in hesitation. They still feel a bit suspicious, but the offer is just too tempting. Finally, Jake steps out to show that he is willing to join.

"I'll join, pal! Please, show me this gift, and I'll pledge servitude to your Brotherhood of Nod. I've had enough of those Dominion bastards!"

"Very well! Rise my young friend! Receive your gift!"

The cloaked man injects the solution in syringe into the young man's forearm.

"You'll feel a little bit unpleasant at first. But fear not, the pain will subside within a minute."

True to the cloaked man's words, Jake does feel dizzy and can feel a burning sensation across his entire body, as the other colonists watch anxiously as how Jake grimacing and sweating profusely in reaction to the so called "cure". The sense of uncomfort would continue for another minute, before it finally comes to a stop.

"So Jake, how do you feel?" one of the colonists asks.

"A little bit of a wild ride at first, but now, I feel great!"

The cloaked man begins to speak again.

"Now, I'll demonstrate the gift of Tiberium. First, let me just give you a small cut... ..."

The cloaked man brandishes out a small dagger, as he lightly cuts the forearm of Jake, drawing blood.

"Owww! Hey! What you think ya doing!"

"Don't worry, it's just a small demonstration. Now, hold this Tiberium crystal. Don't worry, it won't hurt you now... ..."

Hesitantly, Jake puts out his shaking hand and grab hold of the Tiberium crystal, to the shock of his fellow colonists. Surprisingly, Jake does not feel any pain or burning sensation that he has heard from tales of those who have touched the crystals before. Instead, he feels a soothing relaxation as he touches the crystals. Then, in his very own eyes and the other colonists', the cut wound earlier on his forearm has been healed, as if the skins and muscle tissues regenerates in a staggering rate.

All the Dusty Rocks colonists witness the event in utter shock and surprise. It takes another few more minutes for them to awaken from their stupor.

"So, are you all convinced, my friends?" the cloaked man breaks the silence.

The colonists are all in a loss of words, before one of them finally speaks out in a serious tone,

"Okay, we're in! Just tell us more about this Brotherhood of Nod."

"Sure, my friends. Just remember to spread the words. Tell everyone in Mar Sara, that the Mar Sara insurrection is under way... ..."

* * *

**Preview**

Next Act: Mar Sara Insurrection: the Uprising

The Omega Squadron has made a forceful command take-over to quarantine the Tiberium-infested Mar Sara; a bad move because colonist unhappiness has finally reached breaking point. Taking advantage of the colony unrest, the Brotherhood of Nod has finally made its all-out offensive against the Terran Dominion. Let the Mar Sara Insurrection begins!

* * *

(1) The first mission in the Wings of Liberty, shown in BlizzCon.

(2) The idea of Kane and the Nod recruiter holding Tiberium in their bare hands come from the box art of C&C3: Tiberium Wars Kane Edition.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Reckoner

Role: Subterranean APC and mobile bunker

Armament: Drill tips, Infantry portholes, Reinforcement plates

Appearance: Similar to C&C4 Reckoners fully upgraded with drill tips

Another Nod arsenal with history dating back to pre-ascension era, the newest generation of Nod Reckoners are now fitted with drill tips and Tiberium core engines by default for subterranean travel. These Reckoners carry infantry portholes that remain open all the time, allowing infantries inside to fire from within all the time even when the Reckoner is on the move. However, sometimes Reckoner drivers will still choose to deploy their vehicles into a stationary bunker, which deploys reinforcement plates to greatly enhance the armour and protection of the Reckoner. Of course, when necessary, deployed Reckoners can convert themselves back to mobile form.

* * *

Another act completed. Nod shall start the first conflict against the Terran Dominion in the next act. Please R&R!


	5. Act 4: Mar Sara Insurrection: Uprising

To SulliMike23: Once again, thanks for your review. I'm glad that you enjoy this story. Don't worry, Nod will face off against Protoss and Zergs soon. And yes, Scrin will make its return in the future, but that would have to wait.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

So let's get started!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 4: MAR SARA INSURRECTION: THE UPRISING**

(2 weeks after Omega Squadron's arrival in Mar Sara...)

Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson is sitting in the captain's bridge of his flagship, _Odin's Fury_. For the commander of the Omega Squadron, things are getting fishy for these few days. It has been 2 weeks since he had taken over the highest command in Mar Sara in order to quarantine the infested planet. As he had expected there were lots of colonist unrest and riots were happening all over the colony, which he quickly quelled these riots with force. However, recently in these few days, colony activities were suspiciously quiet. Many of his patrols that he had sent out into towns reported almost zero activity inside towns. The streets were clear and there was no one in sight when the patrols were in any of the towns. Based on his own experience, Reikson had suspected that the colonists are plotting something, and something big is bound to happen soon. So, he had just ordered all units to stay in high alert during their patrols.

Meanwhile, Marshal Tray Randall and the Mar Sara Colonial Militia had been cleared of the suspicion of terrorist attack on Colonel Doctor Church's team. The Omega Squadron investigation team for the attack had failed to find any evidence that point out the Mar Sara Colonial Militia as guilty for the attack. They did successfully recover a black box from the Hercules that was carrying the 'mysterious green crystal' and destroyed by the attack. Needless to say, the investigators were still puzzled about what the piloting crew were muttering about before the moment of their destruction. The only conclusion they could arrive is that the team had been ambushed just outside of Mar Sara orbit by an unknown terran faction.

Back to the research of the 'mysterious green crystals', the scientists had still not manage to uncover the exact nature of these crystals. Without proper equipments, the scientists had trouble in further analysing these crystals. They did, however, discover how the crystals are able to fuse and assimilate organic compounds. Based on their observations, they discovered that these crystals are dense "dynamic proton lattice" held together by exotic heavy particles. When these crystals come into contact with other matters, the heavy particles randomly collide with nuclei of the target matter, smashing it to pieces. The crystals would capture a fraction of the protons that are ejected during the collision process and incorporate them into their own structure, thus transmuting more matter into themselves. Whenever one the crystals' heavy particles collides with an atomic nucleus, fission occurs, resulting in alpha, beta and gamma radiation as well as other forms of electromagnetic radiation. These are the reasons why these crystals are deadly to the terran body. The scientists had also observed that the effects of these crystals are much slower on heavier elements, such as metals. This means that the crystals would take a much longer time to fuse and assimilate with machines. Taking note of this observation, the Omega Squadron had begun to deploy MULE (Mobile Utility Lunar Excavator) mining robots to collect and gather these 'mysterious green crystals' without endangering the lives of the workers. But MULEs are just temporary solution, since their short battery life is not enough to clear the entire stretch of crystals all across the planet, and the key problem of safely harvesting minerals and vespene gas from these crystals is still not solved. Additionally, the scientists had also confirmed that the 'mysterious green crystals' are capable of generating violent thunderstorms, when certain gases generated from the crystals reach towards a certain saturation point.

As for Tray Randall's investigation, not much is known about it. In fact, ever since Tray had gathered up his team a week ago, they had vanished, despite repeated orders from Reikson to keep him updated. The only update that Reikson had received from Tray was the first and only one. From Tray's report, it seemed that thefts of alien artifacts began just after the uprising in Riksville, hence Tray and his team were heading out to Riksville as their first lead. From that on, there was no more further communication between Reikson and Tray. Usually, a normal thoughtful person would have suspected that something had gone wrong with the investigation team and would have sent another team to trace them back, but the commander of Omega Squadron had no concern for the well-being of the Marshal of Mar Sara and the Mar Sara Colonial Militia, thus he had already dismissed them as MIA.

Now, on board of _Odin's Fury_, Lieutenant Commander Reikson can see the view of Mar Sara up above its orbit. The usually dusty orange planet is now covered with numerous patches of green all over the place, quite an artistic view in his mind. But as Reikson enjoys the scenery, he has no idea of what's going to follow.

* * *

(Back on the surface...)

Up in the skies just 5 miles away from the town of Dusty Rocks, 2 Medivac dropships, each fully loaded with 8 Marines, were flying towards the town. It is just another routine patrol mission for the Omega Squadron 17th Division, whose base is situated 10 miles away from the town. For the crew in both Medivacs, this is going to be another round of policing in Dusty Rocks, which like most other settlements across Mar Sara, has been suspiciously quiet these days. Accompanying them is a squad of 4 Hellions on the ground, which are now also speeding towards the town. Due to the eerie lack of activities in most settlements across Mar Sara, all units have been placed under high alert, and this division is no exception.

"Hey Josh, do you know why the colonel wants us to stay on guard? I see no reason why we should be careful just because the civies are getting quiet." One of the marine in Medivac-2 asks one of his squad mate.

"I don't know Paul. Maybe the commander is getting paranoid, hahaha..."

"Silence, private! We are closing towards Dusty Rocks, so I want you all to keep your eyes sharp and open!"

"Hey, sarge! May I just ask you a question? Why does the colonel keep warning us to keep our guards up in every patrol mission?"

"It's not just patrol missions, private, it's all the time; guard duties and even when you're sleeping. The townsfolk are getting suspiciously quiet these days, and Commander Reikson has suspected them to be plotting something. Does that answer your question, private?"

"But I don't see why we should fear them! They are just a bunch of civilians, aren't they?"

"I know! If it's just one town, then there's nothing to fear. But the same logic can't apply to almost one entire colony, can it?"

"You mean that it's not just Dusty Rocks, sarge? How many settlements are experiencing the same thing?"

"I don't know, private! All I know is that if the entire colony is plotting against us, we'll be damned screwed. Now heads up soldiers, we're reaching the town. I want everyone to watch out for any suspicious activities, get it?"

"YES SARGE!"

"This is your flight captain speaking, we are now reaching Dusty Rocks. Heads up, boys!"

"Medivac-1 to Medivac-2, how's your condition?"

"Medivac-2 to Medivac-1, all systems operational and passengers all healthy. We are ready."

"Copy that Medivac-2. Proceed on with the mission, entering air space of Dusty Rocks. Have a pleasant flight boys!"

* * *

(30 minutes later...)

The 2 Medivacs are now flying over the town of Dusty Rocks, with the Marines looking down to scout out for any suspicious activities. So far, they see nothing; no people walking along the streets. The only clue that they know that they are now above a town is the buildings that are not yet worn or torn down. Empty bottles and other litters across the streets hint signs of recent town activity, the question is where are the people. On the ground, the 4 Hellions are also feeling the same eerie silence, as they speed along the streets in search of any signs of terran activities.

Once again, it seems to be another day of quiet patrol with no critical events, and it's almost time for them to return to base.

"Medivac-1 to Medivac-2, anything to report?"

"Medivac-2 to Medivac-1, negative. No signs of suspicious activities other than total silence."

"Medivac-1 to Hellion leader, what's your status?"

"Hellion leader to Medivac-1, all Hellions are in tip-top condition. Nothing to report. Preparing to head back to base."

"Affirmative! All units, prepare to head back to base!"

The 2 Medivacs make a sharp turn towards the direction where the terran base of Omega Squadron 17th Division is built. Unknown to them, this routine patrol mission is going to go horribly wrong... ...

* * *

(On the ground, in Dusty Rocks...)

A man is looking out into the sky from the window of his apartment. He is wearing a set of ballistic armour and a red poncho. On his shoulder, he is carrying a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. He is not alone. At the window of the apartment next to his, there is another man wearing a similar set of clothes, armed with the same type of weapon. The 2 men look at each, nod to each other, and ready their weapons. They have each loaded their rocket launchers, which have 2 barrels so that 2 rockets can be fired at the same time. Both men aim at the 2nd Medivac dropship, the one at the back of the formation, and fire off their weapons.

Without warning, 4 rockets are fired off from the ground and slam themselves into Medivac-2, blowing off an engine and a stabilizer.

"What the... What happened?" one of the Marines in Medivac-2 asks as the whole crew feel the sudden jolt across the dropship.

"This is Medivac-2, we've been hit! We've been hit! We're losing control! All passengers, brace for an emergency landing!"

"Medivac-1 to base, Medivac-2 has been hit! We have a Medivac down! I repeat, we have a Medivac down!"

The wounded Medivac spirals and descends slowly towards the ground as fire and smoke trail out from an engine and a stabilizing wing. Eventually, it crashes down hard onto the dusty ground of Dusty Rocks.

"Medivac-1 to base, I'm picking up multiple signals towards crash site. Requesting orders from base! I repeat, requesting orders from base!"

* * *

(Back in Base 17 of the Omega Squadron 17th Division...)

Colonel Grant Richardson is reading some paper works when he is alerted about the crash of Medivac-2 in Dusty Rocks.

"What! Are you certain that Medivac-2 crashed?"

"Yes sir! According to Medivac-1, it's obviously an ambush sir. Medivac-1 is requesting orders, sir, what should we do?"

"Get the adjutant to connect them to me online! I'll take in charge right now!"

"Yes sir!"

In less than a minute, the robotic adjutant responds to the command in its female mechanical voice,

"BATTLEFIELD CONTROL ONLINE! WARNING, INCOMING HOSTILES APPROACHING MEDIVAC-2 CRASH SITE! OUR FORCES ARE UNDER ATTACK..."

"This is Colonel Richardson speaking. Medivac-1, I want you to drop all your Marines at the Medivac-2 crash site and quickly return to base. Hellions, I want all of you to get to the crash site and support the Marines. All Marines, stay on guard and engage with the hostiles! Shoot anyone or anything that is non-Dominion! Hold off enemy attacks while I call in reinforcements!"

"Medivac-1 to base, affirmative! Dropping troops..."

"Hellion leader to base, no problem! We're get there in no time!"

"This is Sergeant Owen speaking to base, we have your orders, sir! What are ya waiting for guys? Go go go..."

"This is Colonel Reikson to base! There is a mutiny going on in Dusty Rocks! Adjutant, report this back to HQ in an instant! All standby units, deploy and get to Dusty Rocks to suppress this mutiny immediately!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, SENDING NEW MESSAGE TO _ODIN'S FURY_..."

While the commanders in the Command Centre of Base 17 are getting busy, all units are also busy gearing up and preparing to head towards Dusty Rocks. Marines and Marauders are loading themselves into remaining Medivacs, Hellions and Crucio Siege Tanks are driving off, and Vikings and Banshees are taking off simultaneously. All of the 17th Division units share one common thing in mind; that is to rescue their downed comrades and to crush this uprising once and for all... ...

* * *

(Back in Medivac-2 crash site at centre square in Dusty Rocks...)

"Is everyone alright?" Sergeant Owen in the crashed Medivac-2 ask to all who are onboard.

"Yes sarge, we're all okay!"

"How about the ladies in the cockpit, are you all okay?"

"Yeah sarge, we're all alright!"

"Good! We've just heard the orders! Everyone, get out of this wreckage now! Medics, is the healing beam in this ship still functional?"

"Negative sarge, it must have been broken when the ship crashed. But don't worry, our reactors are all fully charged and ready!"

"Got it ladies! You two get out of the wreckage as well and help to heal our boys in case there's a fight!"

As 8 Marines and 2 Medics exit from the crashed Medivac, they can see the other Medivac is hovering at low altitudes above them. Then the hatch of Medivac-1 opens up, as 8 more Marines jump down, with their CMC power suits cushioning their fall.

"Hey, you guys alright?"

"Yeah... Hey why Medivac-1 is leaving without us?"

"Orders from the colonel. They're gonna pick up some reinforcements from base..."

"Oh, I see... Hope they'll come here quick!"

"Heads up guys! We got company!"

Suddenly, gunshots can be heard and rounds are zipping past them. One of the rounds hit a Marine in his left knee.

"Arghhh... ...I'm hit! I'm hit!"

"All units, take cover behind the wreckage!"

All the 16 Marines and 2 Medics immediately retreat back into the crashed Medivac wreckage. The Medics begin to do their work, while Sergeant Owen takes a peek outside to find their attackers.

Soon enough, Owen takes a glimpse of how their attackers look like. They are all wearing identical uniforms: a set of ballistic armour with gray hooded jackets. Each of them is armed with a pulse rife.

* * *

The Militants have all seen the Medivac crashing into the central square of the town, and have all made a beeline towards it. After years of oppression by the Terran Dominion, the Militants are finally able to release their frustrations upon their oppressors.

"The oppressors must die!"

"Down goes the Dominion!"

"Make them suffer!"

"Die!"

The waves of Militants open fire at the small group of Marines and Medics as they shout out swearings towards their targets.

* * *

"Dammit! There's like hundreds of them pouring upon us!" Sergeant Owen shouts out to his team.

"Who the heck give those townsfolk weapons?"

"How should I know?"

"What should we do, sarge? Are we just gonna stand here and let those idiots take pot shots out of us?"

Owen decides to take a peek again at the enemies to analyse the odds. From what he has seen about their opponents, the opponents only seem to look intimidating in terms of quantity. In terms of quality, the enemy looks horribly weak. Armed with only outdated pulse rifles and protected by ballistic armour, they would be no match against a Marine's CMC power suit and C-14 gausse rifle. The kind of tactic the enemies are using are kind of stupid too; they don't seem to be deploying in any actual formation, just randomly running around and shooting like as if they have limitless ammunition. Most of them are even out in the open, without any cover. In conclusion, they are just a big bunch of amateurs.

"Alright listen up guys! On my count of 3, all Marines stand out and shoot all those idiots out there together. Medics will tend our wound. Don't worry, the enemies are numerous, but that's it. Other than that, they are weak and their weapons will even have trouble penetrating our armour. Are you alright now Josh?"

"Yes sarge! My knee's okay now!"

"Good! Then on my count of 3... 1, 2, 3! Attack!"

Immediately, all the Marines step out of their hiding grounds and return fire to their attackers. C-14 Impaler gausse rifles spew out deadly spikes towards the Militants. For the Militants who are at the receiving ends of the Marines' fire, their bodies are immediately peppered with spikes. In a few bursts of fire, the first wave of Militants collapse into bloody heaps. Their ballistic armour provide little protection against hypersonic spikes shot out from Marines' C-14 rifles.

Boost by their success of defeating the first wave of Militants, the Marines are now getting more confident. Maybe they can win this. Maybe they can get out of here alive. However, their good dreams are soon disrupted by the arrival of the 2nd waves of Militants. The Militants, angered at seeing the fall of their comrades, attack the Marines with even greater ferocity. More pulse rifle rounds zip dangerously past the Marines. Some of the rounds have even bounced off from some Marines' CMC armour.

"You wanna piece of me, boy?"

The Marines open another series of bursts of fire towards the attacking Militants, spilling blood and insides onto the ground. But as more Militants fall, even more stand up to replace their fallen comrades.

"Dammit, exactly how many of them are out there?"

As more Militants rush in and fire their pulse rifles, more Marines are getting hit by the pulse rifle rounds; and soon some of the Marine's armour get breached.

"Arghhh... I'm hit!"

The Medics immediately start their work of healing the wounded Marines as their Caduceus Reactor on their backs rumble. While the Medics heal the Marines, the Marines continue to shoot at the incoming Militants.

Just then, Sergeant Owen sees some men dressed in a different uniform approaching. These men are also wearing ballistic armour, but instead of gray hooded jackets, they cover themselves with red poncho. To Sergeant Owen's horror, these red poncho guys are carrying loaded twin-barrelled rocket launchers. One of the approaching Rocket Militant takes aim towards them and fire off 2 rockets.

"Watch out, incoming rockets!"

The warning comes just in time, as all Marines and Medics immediately duck behind the Medivac wreckage to avoid the rockets. But as the group hides, more Rocket Militants fire at them. One rocket hits the ground below a Marine, blowing up and throwing him 6 feet high up in the air.

"Steve, are you alright?"

"I just flown up 6 feet in the air and you still called that alright?"

The Marine quickly run back to his cover as the Medics continue to treat his wounds.

While the Rocket Militants are loading up their rockets, the other Militants continue to suppress fire upon the Marines. The Marines can only return fire while hiding behind the Medivac wreckage. Just then, Sergeant Owen sees another wave of Militants approaching, this time armed with grenade launchers.

"Oh shit! Grenades incoming!"

As the new wave of Militants fire their grenades towards the Medivac wreckage, they can see the Marines and Medics ducking away from the wreckage.

"BOOOOOOOOMMM!"

The crashed Medivac wreckage is now reduced into piles of scrap metal as dozens of fragmentation grenades explode near the wreckage. The Marines and Medics are now out in the open with little cover.

Now the Marines have no choice but to engage their enemies out in the open. As the Marines continue to shoot at incoming Militants, the Medics continue to heal the wounded. Suddenly, a few rounds of pulse rifles bounce off from the Medics' shields. The group looks back to see another wave of Militants and Rocket Militants approaching.

"Dammit! They are trying to surround us! All Marines, form a circle of protection around the 2 ladies!" Sergeant Owen orders.

Immediately, all the Marines get into the ordered formation and resumes combat, killing more Militants from all directions. All still seem to be well for this small group of Dominion soldiers as the Marines continue cutting down Militants and Rocket Militants with their gausse rifles, while their CMC armour provide enough protection against the enemies' flimsy attacks. However, as minutes pass by, there are bad news... ...

"Shit! Caduceus reactor power running low!" one of the Medics shout out.

This is indeed bad news for the Marines. If the Medics have run out of power, this will mean that they will not be able to heal them during combat. And to make matters worse, the number of enemies do not seem to be diminishing. Instead, even more are showing up.

Suddenly, a round smashes into the visor of one of the Marines, killing the Marine in a head shot.

"What the... ..."

While the Marines are still shocked from the death of that Marine, a familiar firing sound of C-14 fire can be heard, except that these are not coming out from them, but from the enemy's side. Another Marine gets hit by a series of rounds, killed as his armour gets littered with holes and blood spewing out.

Sergeant Owen looks out at the enemies and realise that things are going for the worse. Accompanying with the next wave of Militants, are Marines with black and red CMC power suits and C-14 gausse rifles. There are Marines in enemy ranks!

"Shit! Enemy Marines sighted! All units, target the enemy Marines as priority targets!" Sergeant Owen orders his troops to kill enemy Marines first since their weapons are currently the most deadliest to the group, followed by grenade launchers and rocket launchers.

The Dominion Marines open concentrated fire to enemy Marines, reducing the enemy Marines into swiss cheese. But as the Marines shoot at the enemy Marines, a few Rocket Militants fire their rockets towards the group of Dominion soldiers. Before Sergeant Owen can respond in time, the rockets slam into the ground below the group, kicking up 3 Marines high up into the air. When the Medics check upon them, 1 of them is dead, while the other 2 are seriously wounded. Unfortunately, there is little power left in their Caduceus reactor to fully heal the 2 wounded ones.

Just then, another round of enemy fire sounds off. This time shooting right into the head of one of the Medics. As the group turns back to check on her, they found her dead, with her head split open revealing the brain. Sergeant Owen looks for the source of fire and finds another group of men, this time dressed in a red and black power suit similar to CMC power suit, but slimmer and lighter in design. These men have wrist mounted guns attached to their both arms. On their chest, Sergeant Owen sees a symbol: a hexagon with a scorpion tail within.

* * *

Unknown to the Dominion soldiers, these are Nod Devouts. They are the true basic foot soldiers of the Brotherhood of Nod. While the Militants and Rocket Militants are recruited from local civilian populations, a few of them are selected to join the actual Nod army and become into Devouts.

* * *

With enemy Militants, Rocket Militants, Marines and Devouts shooting from all directions, the small group of Dominion troops are having trouble fighting back. Another 4 more Marines are killed in the shootouts, leaving 9 Marines and 1 Medic left.

"Darn! We have to go find shelter! Everyone, take cover behind those rubbles!" Sergeant Owen, one of the surviving Marines, orders his troops to take cover behind some rubbles; created by debris piled up by enemy rocket and grenade fire.

"This is getting hopeless! Where the heck are those Hellions?" Sergeant Owen curses, while his troops are taking in continuous suppressive fire from all directions.

* * *

(Meanwhile, a few streets away from the Medivac-2 crash site...)

The 4 Hellions are speeding at top speed towards the town's central square. They have received their orders by their colonel to assist the downed Marines. Now, they are just a few streets away from the crash site and they are beginning to hear gunshots from a distance.

Knowing that the Marines are under attack, the Hellions close in, trying to surprise their enemies from behind. Unfortunately, they are not aware that they are the ones that are in for a surprise... ...

Suddenly, the lead Hellion driver sees something popping out from beneath the ground in front of the road. To his horror, that thing is small, robotic, quadrupedal, and with blinking red lights; a spider mine!

"Shit! Lookout there's a spider mine ahead!"

The spider mine scurries towards the Hellion formation, in which the lead Hellion quickly swerve to the roadside to avoid it. Unfortunately, the others are not so lucky.

"KABOOOOOOMMM!"

The spider mine explodes, taking out the middle 2 Hellions along with it, reducing them into pieces of scrap metal. The last Hellion manage to avoid the blast, but overturns in the process of dodging the mine. The lead Hellion driver looks at the 2 Hellion wreckages; there don't seem to have any survivors left in there.

"Hellion leader to Hellion-4, come in! Over!"

"This is Hellion-4. I'm still alright, just trying to get out of here... ..."

Suddenly, 4 Rocket Militants spring out from behind a nearby building, take aim and shoot at the overturned Hellion.

"KABOOOOOOMMM!"

8 rockets slam into the overturned Hellion, blowing it up into a magnificent display of fireball. A charred body can be seen flying out from the destroyed Hellion.

"Shit!" the Hellion leader exclaims, as he desperately tries to escape by driving off in the opposite direction. As the last Hellion speeds off, the driver notices 2 more Rocket Militants loading their rockets and trying to shoot at him again. In a quick response, the Hellion swerves to one side, aims and fires its Infernal flamethrower. The flames instantly scorch the 2 Rocket Militants, leaving them rolling on the ground burning and screaming in pain. The Hellion quickly speeds away from the scene, trying to avoid encountering more enemies.

"Hellion leader to base, all other Hellions are gone! Retreating back to base now..."

"BOOOOOOMMM!" a sudden loud explosion can be heard behind the Hellion.

As the Hellion driver looks back, he is shocked to see 2 Vultures, both painted black and red, chasing him. As the high speed chase goes on, the 2 Vultures repeatedly try to end the Hellion's existence by shooting at the Hellion with their fragmentation grenades. Desperately trying to avoid being hit by the grenades, the Hellion repeatedly swerve from one side to another as it tries to speed away from danger.

Just then, the Hellion driver sees another 2 more "Hellions" in front of him speeding towards him. Initially, he feels relieved, thinking them as reinforcements. However, at a closer look, the approaching "Hellions" are painted in the same paint job as the attacking Vultures, which can only mean one thing: more hostiles inbound. Cursing his luck, the Hellion driver makes a sharp turn to the right, trying to avoid the 2-pronged assault. As he has suspected, the 2 "Hellions" are now chasing him side by side with the enemy Vultures. At a closer look, the enemy "Hellions" are not armed with Infernal flamethrowers, but armed with gausse machine gun instead.

These "Hellions" are actually captured or purchased Hellions that have been modified to carry lighter 25mm gausse machine gun instead of Infernal flamethrower. These are Nod Raiders.

The Raiders begin to fire off their weapons, spilling out spikes towards the Hellion. Spikes begin to pound onto the Hellion chassis. The Hellion driver tries to escape from this situation, but in vain. While the Hellion can outrun Vulture's frag grenades, it cannot outrun guns from the Raiders. Besides, the Raiders are as fast, if not, even faster than the Hellion.

As spikes shot out from the 2 Raiders' guns continue to pound onto the Hellion chassis, a trail of black smoke is becoming visible, trailing behind the wounded Hellion. The Hellion driver looks back at his pursuers and realise that he is in deep trouble. In an act of desperation, he tries to retaliate against his attackers by aiming his flamethrower nozzle backwards, facing the attackers, and fires while on the run. Unfortunately, the range of the flames istoo short, missing the Raiders and the Vultures, which are resuming their attacks onto the Hellion at a much further distance.

After a few minutes since the high speed chase has begun, the trail of black smoke behind the Hellion is now turning into a trail of black smoke and fire. The Hellion driver looks back again and knows that the either the fuel tank or the flamethrower tank of the Hellion has been ruptured, and the Hellion is about to blow up anytime. The Hellion drivers assess his odds, and feels that his chance of escaping is now almost minimal. Fighting them will be definitely a losing battle for him as he is outnumbered 4 to 1. There is no way he can survive by jumping out of his speeding vehicle, as the Raiders behind him can pick him off even if he survives the fall. The only chance he has is to get out of the town immediately and head back to the base for repairs, or find any reinforcements sent by Colonel Richardson. Just then, the Hellion driver can see the exit of the town, and desperately turns towards the town exit. Once in the open, there is more space for the Hellion to dodge all the attacks and better chance to survive.

Too bad lady luck is not on the side of the Terran Dominion today. Before the Hellion can make towards the exit, one of the frag grenade shot out from a Vulture manages to make a direct hit onto the ruptured flamethrower tank of the wounded Hellion. The result is a loud, fiery explosion, followed by flying pieces of burning scrap metal, with a charred body landing onto a ground with a thud.

* * *

(Meanwhile, at Medivac-1 situation...)

Medivac-1 is now flying at top speed back towards Base 17. The last thing the Medivac pilots want is to end up getting shot down by Rocket Militants, just like Medivac-2. Right now, they have managed to avoid several random rockets shot off from more Rocket Militants. From the air, they have seen the incredible numbers of soldiers the enemies are having; from Militants, to Marines and Devouts, and even some vehicles such as Vultures and Raiders.

Just then, one of the Raiders have spotted Medivac-1, and begins to give chase. Aiming its guns upwards, the Raider fires, shooting at the flying Medivac.

Hearing sounds of rounds brushing against and even penetrating through the dropship armour, the Medivac pilots know that they are under attack again, and tries to make a beeline out of the town. They are now getting close of leaving the town... ...

Suddenly, the Medivac pilots see a strange sighting. From beneath the ground, a large, metallic drill with 3 tips burst out from the ground (1). The drill opens up; to reveal a Goliath walker. The Goliath steps out from the drill, which instantly retreats back into the ground, and aims at the Medivac.

"Crap! We've got a Goliath right in front of us! Take evasive actions!"

The Medivac pilots curse their luck. They are aware of the reputation of Goliaths as aircraft killers, and are now trying to steer the ship away from the Goliath's firing range.

The Medivac successfully avoid the first Goliath, only to find itself within range of a second one, which has also just walked out of a drill. The second Goliath launches 2 Hellfire missles, which slam right into cockpit of the Medivac, exploding and killing both Medic pilots inside. Pilotless and out of control, the doomed Medivac spirals and descends downwards, crashing into a building and blows up into burning pieces of scrap metal.

* * *

(Back to Sergeant Owen's team...)

"DUHHHHHHHHH!"

Another Marine gets killed by enemy fire. Now the team is left with 8 Marines and 1 Medic. The Medic's Caduceus reactor has been fully depleted, meaning that she is now unable to heal the Marines anymore.

"Hold your ground! Just shoot anything that moves!" Sergeant Owen makes a desperate bid to encourage his troop to continue fighting. Surrounding them are dead bodies of Militants, enemy Marines and Devouts. The Marines have already lost count of how many enemy soldiers have they killed, all they know is that there are hundreds more of them still out there, trying to kill them.

Just then, a beer bottle with a burning cap flies towards the group. The bottle smashes onto one of the Marines, and setting the Marine ablaze.

"ARGHHHHHHHHH... ..."

Sergeant Owen and a few Marines desperately tries to put off the fire, but has been forced to retreat when more burning bottles are thrown onto the burning Marine.

"Shit! It's too late! Everyone, fall back! I say fall back!"

As the 7 Marines and a single Medic slowly retreat from the shootout, more Militants show up, with their Molotov Cocktails ready. While some Militants continue firing at the Marines, others throw their Molotov Cocktails.

"Everyone, stay close together, and don't let those bottles hit you!" Sergeant Owen orders his troops.

Suddenly, a tremor can be felt by the Dominion infantries, and it gets bigger and bigger... ...

"What the... Earthquake at this moment?"

The truth is, it's not an earthquake.

Without warning, a Reckoner bursts out from beneath the ground where the Dominion infantries are still standing just now. As the running drill tip of the Reckoner bursts out from the earth, it manages to catch 2 Marines into its path, reducing them to bloody pulp. The rest are all thrown high up into the sky.

"Urghhh... ..."

The rest of the Marines and Medic are still trying to recover from their fall, when the passengers inside the Reckoner, 4 Devouts to be exact, start firing at them... at close range. Rounds from the Devouts' chain guns tear into the bodies of 5 of the fallen Marines and the last Medic, reducing them into bloody mess. The remaining 2 Marines, Sergeant Owen and Private Josh, manage to get up in time and dodge to avoid the Reckoner's firing range. Both Marines quickly hide behind a building.

"Phew... that was a close one!"

"Where are the others sarge?"

"Ain't that obvious? They're all dead!"

"Then what are we gonna do sarge? There's no way we can beat those number! And they have those drilling things! We're damned screwed!"

"Shut up private! Don't give up yet, and stop whining like a girl! If you're a Marine of Omega Squadron, you should behave like a man! Fight like a man! Kill like a man! Die like a man... well ignore the last part... anyway the Hellions are coming soon to scorch those bastards. They should be arriving at any moment... ..."

"VROOM... VROOM... VROOOOOOMMM... ..."

"There, they are finally here at last! Take them a goddam long time!"

The 2 Marines step out of their hiding spot and wave at the incoming "Hellions", only to realise... ...

"Shit! Those ain't our Hellions! Take cover... ..."

Too late... ...

The Raiders open fire as they see the 2 Marines. Private Josh falls dead onto the ground with multiple shot wounds all over his body. Sergeant Owen collapses with severe injuries all over his entire body, but refuses to give up without a fight. With his last ounce of strength, he picks up his C-14 and shoots wildly at the Raiders. The Raiders immediately return fire, finishing off the tough Marine once and for all.

* * *

(Back in Command Centre of Base 17...)

"COMMANDER, SIGNATURES OF ALL PATROL TEAM HAVE BEEN LOST! THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO IS THAT THE ENTIRE PATROL TEAM HAS BEEN ANNIHILATED!" the robotic voice of the adjutant announces the grim news.

"So... we're too late then. In this case... adjutant, relay my orders to all units approaching Dusty Rocks: destroy the town and end this uprising once and for all!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next act: Mar Sara Insurrection: Streetfight

The entire Omega Squadron 17th Division has been deployed to attempt to end the insurrection in Dusty Rocks. What the 17th Division will not realise is that they have been lured into a deadly urban streetfight with the fanatic Militants and soldiers of Brotherhood of Nod.

* * *

(1) The large drills are the similar transporting drills used by Nod forces to deploy their crawlers and other units in C&C4.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Militants and Rocket Militants

Role: Civilian milita soldiers (fodders)

Armament: Pulse rifle/Grenade Launcher/Twin barrelled rocket launcher, Molotov cocktails

Appearance: Similar to Militants and Rocket Militants in C&C3, along with the grey hoods or red poncho

Unhappy terran citizens and colonists recruited by the Brotherhood, the Militants vent out their frustrations towards the Nod's enemies. "Adequately trained" in combat and use of weapons, the Militants and their Rocket counterparts are adorned in ballistic armour and ready for war against the oppressive rule of the Terran Dominion.

My Nod Unit Profile: Devout

Role: Basic anti-personnel infantry

Armament: Wrist-mounted chain guns attached to each forearm

Appearance: Similar to Devouts with Dark Armaments upgrade in C&C4, the armour looks similar to Marine's CMC power suit, except it is slimmer and lighter in design

While the civilian Militants and Rocket Militants make a bulk of Nod's forces, they are not really part of the actual Nod's army. The honour goes to the Devouts, devoted soldiers of the Brotherhood that will forever remain loyal to the Brotherhood's cause. Compared to Terran Marines, Devouts are less protected, but they can outgun and outrun their Terran counterparts. Most importantly, unlike their penal troops or neural resocialised opponents, Devouts are highly faithful and loyal to the Brotherhood of Nod.

My Nod Unit Profile: Raider

Role: Light anti-personnel recon vehicle

Armament: 25mm gausse machine gun

Appearance: They are like Hellions, except for flamethrower replaced with machine gun

Through many different means, the Brotherhood of Nod manages to obtain large numbers of Hellions. However, the Inner Circle feels that flamethrowers are not suitable for fast hitting Hellions, and decides to have them all their weapons to be replaced with machine guns. The new modified Hellions are renamed as Raiders, named from the Raider buggies of the Third and Fourth Tiberium Wars.

* * *

And the Mar Sara Insurrection has just begun. Please remember to R&R.


	6. Act 5: Mar Sara Insurrection:Streetfight

To scrin and steel talons rule: Yes, LEGION is in the story and it's still online despite more than 400 years have passed. In fact, it has already made a brief appearance near the end of Act 2: First Blood.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

So let's get started!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 5: MAR SARA INSURRECTION: STREETFIGHT**

(A few minutes later in Dusty Rocks...)

Cheers are all around the town, and there are reasons why. The colonists of Dusty Rocks had just defeated and destroyed a small band of Dominion patrol team. They feel a great sense of accomplishment after successfully defeating Dominion troops by themselves. However, they have paid heavy prices as more than hundreds of their fellow colonists have fallen just to kill 16 Marines, 2 Medics, 4 Hellions and 2 Medivac dropships; a terrible unit kill to death ratio.

And now, celebrations of this short victory shall be cut short, as the colonists know that the Omega Squadron will definitely respond to their insurgency with brute force. In a brief period of time, more transporting drills shoot out from beneath the ground, bringing more troops and vehicles for the oncoming fight. The Miliants, Rocket Militants, Marines and Devouts also quickly take shelter inside buildings, preparing to engage the Dominion troops in a lethal urban warfare.

* * *

(Back in Base 17 Command Centre...)

"COMMANDER, OUR FORCES WILL REACH DUSTY ROCKS IN 5 MINUTES. ALL UNITS ARE NOW REQUESTING FOR YOUR ORDERS, COMMANDER..." the mechanical voice of the adjutant sounds out.

"Good! Order all Siege Tanks to deploy and set up a perimeter around the town outskirts. Tell them to bombard the town and flush out those insurgents. Marine Squad 10 to 20, stay close to the tanks and cover them!" Colonel Richardson orders.

* * *

(At the outskirts of Dusty Rocks...)

Rows of Crucio class Siege Tanks, have lined up along the outskirts of Dusty Rocks. A few Medivacs have dropped down some Marines to guard these tanks.

"Listen up pals! The colonel has spoken; all tanks deploy now and prepare to bomb those bastards back to the stone age!"

After the lead Siege Tank commander gives out the orders, all the Siege Tanks immediately deploy into their siege mode. However, during the deployment process, a series of explosions occur, blowing up some of the Siege Tanks and killing some Marines.

"What the heck?"

"Commander sir! We have been bombed!"

* * *

(Back in Base 17 Command Centre...)

"BEEP... BEEP... OUR FORCES ARE UNDER ATTACK! SIEGE TANKS ARE ALL UNDER ATTACK DURING THEIR DEPLOYMENT..."

"What... Adjutant, conduct a scanner sweep across the town!" Colonel Richardson orders.

"SCANNING... SCAN COMPLETE... SCAN RESULTS INDICATE ENEMY FORCES HAVE A NUMBER OF THEIR OWN ARCLITE CLASS SIEGE TANKS ALREADY DEPLOYED IN THEIR SIEGE MODE AND THEY ARE NOW ATTACKING OUR OWN SIEGE TANKS..."

"Call in the Banshees to prepare a bombing run across the town; tell all those Siege Tanks that survive to bomb back those enemies' antiquated tanks!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, TRANSMITTING ORDERS... ..."

* * *

(Back at the Dominion Siege Tanks...)

"Alright, listen up fellas! The colonel has transmitted coordinates of enemy siege tanks, so let's blast those assholes back!"

"Yes sir!"

Despite some of the Crucio Siege Tanks being lost to enemy barrage fire, most manage to stay operational and have finished their deployment process. Now, it is their turn to blast the enemies.

The deployed Crucio Siege Tanks begin to fire back with their 120mm shock cannons. Plasma shells travel far towards the location of enemy Arclite Siege Tanks inside the town. Explosions can be heard even from their position, and these are quite loud. The Siege Tank crew are certain that they should have taken out some enemy Siege Tanks with their artillery barrage. The question is have they taken out all of them.

Their answers are soon answered when more enemy artillery barrage are raining upon their positions. More explosions occur as more Siege Tanks and Marines are taken out. The lead Siege Tank commander curses in his mind, as he remembers some stats of the new Crucio Siege Tanks,

'Darn! How could I have forgotten! The new Crucios are better designed in terms of direct open field combat, but their siege capabilities are of no difference compared to the old Arclites! This is gonna be a hard battle!'

"All fellas! Don't falter! Everyone, return fire!"

The surviving Crucios immediately return fire.

* * *

(To the 17th Division Banshee squad...)

While the Siege Tanks on both sides are exchanging fire, the Banshees are now heading towards the town.

"All units, turn on your cloaking devices now!" the lead Banshee pilot orders her squad mates.

Immediately, all the Banshees vanish from plain sight as their cloaking devices are turned on.

"All units, proceed with the bombing run!"

In their cloaked form, the Banshees begin to unleash their barrages of Backlash rockets onto the surface, destroying buildings, barricades, and some hiding enemy units. Some Rocket Militants and Raiders try to shoot randomly into the air, hoping to make lucky shots out of the cloaked Banshees. Their efforts are in vain, however, as the cloaked Banshees quickly take them out with their powerful Backlash rockets.

When the Banshee bombing runs appear to be more successful, a volley of rockets suddenly slam into one of the cloaked Banshees, blowing up its engines and causing it to crash down and explodes into a magnificent display of fireworks.

"What... we've lost Banshee-3!"

"But how can that be possible? Is the cloaking field still on?"

"Yes, ma'am! All our cloaking field is still on... ... KABOOM... ... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."

Just then, another volley rockets have slammed and destroyed another Banshee.

'This is strange... if one cloaked Banshee gets shot down, it may be due to luck... but if two... then there must be some sort of detector somewhere close... ...'

While the lead Banshee pilot is still wondering, another volley rockets is launched, taking out a third Banshee. The lead Banshee pilot looks around her and soon spot something zooming off away from the scene: a group of small bulbous 2-wheeled vehicles shaped like bikes armed with 3 rocket pods.

The lead Banshee pilot suspects these bikes are responsible for taking out 3 of her fellow squad mates, so she decides to keep an eye on them. Then, as she has suspected, the bikes suddenly U-turn back towards their flight and fire off their rockets again, taking out another Banshee.

* * *

These are the latest generation of Nod Attack Bikes. Faster and better armed than older versions more than 400 years ago, these small, swift and agile bikes are armed with 3 rocket pods and an advanced sensors designed to detect even cloaked units such as Banshees.

* * *

Realising that these bikes can be possibly enemy detectors, the lead Banshee pilot quickly calls to her squad mates,

"Banshee leader to all units, set those 2-wheel vehicles as priority target! They are detectors!"

After receiving their orders from their leader, the Banshees, still in cloaked form, begin to target and fire at the Attack Bikes. Some of the Backlash rockets manage to score hits, easily shredding the tiny vehicles and sending their riders flying high up into the air, but most of the Attack Bikes nimbly dodge the attacks and fire another volley of rockets before U-turning away and speeding off. That volley shoots down another Banshee as a result.

"Enemy detectors are too fast... watch out sisters, another group of them approaching us from the flank... BOOOOOOMMM... Mayday! Mayday! I'm hit! I'm ... ... KABOOM... ... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."

Another Banshee gets struck down as another the Banshee flight gets flanked by another pack of Attack Bikes. Just then, the lead Banshee pilot spots a group of Rocket Militants heading straight towards them... and fire at them.

"Shit! Enemy detectors have sent coordinates of our location to other anti-air units! All units fall back! I repeat fall back!"

The Banshee squad begins to turn back and retreat back towards their base. As they retreat, more rockets are fired at them, bringing down more Banshees. In the end, only a quarter of the original numbers of Banshees manage to escape from the town.

* * *

(Back in Base 17 Command Centre...)

"BEEP... BEEP... COMMANDER, OUR SIEGE TANKS ARE ENCOUNTERING HEAVY RESISTANCE FROM ENEMY SIEGE TANKS ARTILLERY FIRE... OUR BANSHEES HAVE BEEN CAUGHT OFF-GUARD BY ENEMY DETECTORS AND ¾ OF OUR BANSHEE SQUAD HAS BEEN WIPED OUT, ALL REMAINING BANSHEES ARE NOW RETREATING BACK TO BASE..."

"Tell all Siege Tanks to continue return fire, the enemy has less tanks than us, so we should be able to edge out eventually. Order all Hellions and Vikings to speed into the town and sweep out enemy resistance. Then order all remaining Medivacs to drop all infantries into the town and flush out all resistance..."

"AFFIRMATIVE... TRANSIMITTING ORDERS... ..."

* * *

(Back to Dusty Rocks...)

More than 50 Hellions begin to speed into the town from multiple directions; while up in the air, there are more than 20 Vikings flying straight into the town.

As the Hellions speed across the roads, Militants and Rocket Militants garrisoning inside town buildings begin to fire upon them. Some are hit and a few gets destroyed by rocket fire, though most manage to dodge the attacks. Some of the Hellions retaliate against the garrisoned Militants and Rocket Militants by spewing flames into the building windows, scorching some Militants into cinders.

While the Hellions are speeding across the streets and scorching down Militants, Vikings are up in the air, heading towards the coordinates of enemy deployed Siege Tanks. Unfortunately for the Vikings, their mission would not sound as simple as stated in their briefings, as rockets are fired from multiple directions towards them. The Vikings dodge and roll, avoiding the barrage of rockets, though some gets hit and a few of them gets shot down. Then, the Vikings have the enemy Siege Tanks in their sights, but they encounter even more resistance as enemy Rocket Militants, Marines, Devouts, Raiders and Attack Bikes increase their ferocity of attack against them.

"Captain! We're under heavy fire!" one of the Viking pilot exclaims.

"We've lost Viking-12 and Viking-17!" another one shouts out.

"Viking leader to all Vikings, transform into walkers now!" the Viking leader gives out his order to his flight mates.

The Vikings make their configuration transformation as they descent and change from fighters into assault walkers. In their walker modes, the Vikings brandish out their twin gatling cannons, and proceed to shoot at any oppositions. Some foolish Militants, Marines and Devouts try to challenge the walkers, only to end up getting shredded into bloody mess. Some Raiders also burst out of the scene and fire off their 25mm gausse machine gun at the Viking walkers, but the more heavily armed and armoured Vikings shrug off the Raiders' attacks and retaliate by shooting the Raiders with their cannons. The lightly armoured Raiders are no match against the Vikings and most of them end up as scrap metals and broken tyres before the remaining ones make their retreat.

While the Vikings slowly make their way through on ground, they encounter even more resistance as more infantries garrisoned in buildings start to show up and attack them with heavier weapons such as rockets and grenades. Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes are also making hit-and run attacks, attacking them from street corners and speed off before the slower walkers can respond. As a result, many Vikings fall as immobile piles of scrap metal on their way towards their target coordinates.

Just then, another group of walkers show up in front of the Vikings. The Viking pilots instantly recognise them as Goliath combat walkers, one of the predecessors of the Vikings. Some of the senior pilots in the Viking ranks have even piloted these walkers before, and they are well aware that these walkers, though considered as old and obsolete, can still prove to be a formidable opponent against their Vikings.

The Goliaths fire off their autocannons against the Vikings. Autocannon rounds slam repeatedly into the cockpit of one of the Viking, killing the pilot within and render the newer and bulkier walker into a collapsing heap of metal. Not willing to back out without a fight, the Vikings immediately return fire with their gatling cannons, and succeed in getting 2 Goliaths offline. Realising that they are outnumbered, the Goliaths retreat, while continuing to return fire as they walk out of their battles. The Vikings try to give chase, but realise that their newer and more advanced walkers are heavier and slower than the Goliaths. Only by transforming into fighter mode then the Vikings can catch up with the Goliaths, but this will be a suicidal move as it will bring them to the receiving ends of the Goliaths' dreaded Hellfire missiles.

The Vikings watch hopelessly as the Goliaths retreat further and further away from their firing range. Suddenly, a series of explosions occur as something attacks the Vikings from their back, causing a number of them to collapse forward. The lead Viking pilot turns back and see a pack of Vultures and Attack Bikes. Before the Vikings can turn back and retaliate, the Vultures and Attack Bikes have already sped off, leaving nothing but dust along their wake.

'What a piece of crap! How can I be so stupid to have truly believed that this thing is better than a Goliath! It's so slow and clumsy on land! If this a Goliath, at least I can give those bastards a few more shots before seeing them kicking dust! Hmph... better mobility with its fighter mode... yeah right... ... so you can be at receiving ends of anti-air fire... ...'

The lead Viking pilot thinks in his mind as he sees the backstabbing bikers have already sped off from their firing range. Now he really hopes he is piloting a Goliath instead of a Viking. A Goliath may be less armoured and have less mobility in combating aircrafts, at least a Goliath is faster and more agile.

Suddenly, the Vikings find themselves under fire again, this time from the flanks. More Goliaths have shown up, which proceed to fire their autocannons at the Vikings while walking away again. Shortly after that, another wave of attacks has been unleashed onto the Vikings, this time by Vultures and Attack Bikes again, from the rear.

'Shit! We've walked into a trap!' the lead Viking now realises when he looks into his scanner on the Viking's control panel. The scanner has shown that the enemy bikes and Goliaths are actually circling around them, like vultures circling around a piece of carcass. The enemies are taking advantage of their speed and agility to conduct hit-and-run attacks onto their flanks and rear, giving them almost no chance of retaliatory attack.

As the hit-and-run attacks go on, more Vikings fall victims into this trap. In just a few minutes, the lead Viking pilot realises that his team has been reduced from the initial 20 that manage to transform to ground mode, to only 5 left.

"Dammit! All Vikings retreat! I repeat, retreat!" the lead Viking has realised that there this continuous hit-and-run attacks will eventually wipe out the entire team, so now they have to break through this encirclement.

Too bad that the insurgents are not allowing them to get away. As the Vikings try to force their way out of the encirclement, 3 Reckoners barge through from beneath the ground, blocking the Vikings' escape route. The Reckoners then deploy themselves, releasing reinforcement plates and lying their wheels and threads horizontally on the ground. The infantries garrisoned inside the Reckoners begin to fire their weapons onto the Vikings. 2 of them collapse onto the ground as a barrage of rounds, grenades, rockets and Molotov Cocktails rain upon the Vikings. The Vikings try to break their way through by attacking this 'blockade' with their twin gatling cannons, but are frustrated to see that most of their rounds just bounce off harmlessly as they hit the Reckoners' reinforcement plates.

"Shit! All Vikings, we'll head to another direction!" the lead Viking pilot tries to lead his remaining squad mates to safety by trying to escape from another direction. Unfortunately, they find their escape route to be blocked again; this time by 2 Reckoners and 3 Goliaths. The Reckoners and Goliaths attack, taking another Viking out of action.

With only 2 of them left and both ends of their escape route blocked by larger quantities of enemy forces, the lead Viking pilot has no choice but to go for the more dangerous route of escape: through air.

"Viking leader to Viking-11, we'll transform into fighter mode and get the hell out of here!"

"But Viking leader, if we transform right now, those Goliaths will shoot us down! It is suicide!"

"Suicide maybe, but this is the only way out! It's your choice; either you want to stay here and get slaughtered for sure, or take a chance out of this hell hole through the sky."

The other Viking pilot realises that his leader does make a point. If he stays and fights on, he would definitely be overwhelmed and get killed in vain; if they take off to the skies, at least there is a slim chance that they may be able to escape.

"Roger Viking leader! Let's transform and get out of here!"

"Roger that, Viking-11! Vikings, transform and roll out!"

The 2 Vikings begin to undergo conformational changes again, transforming back into their fighter mode. To the insurgents, this is exactly the moment they are waiting for... ...

When the 2 Vikings fully transform into fighter mode and prepare to fly out of their encirclement, the Goliaths immediately let loose their Hellfire missiles. Viking-11 becomes the unfortunate one to get hit by the Hellfire missiles, ending up as an explosive display of fireworks as the doomed Viking crashes to the ground. The last Viking, Viking leader, takes the opportunity of the sacrifice of his last squad mate to fly out of the shooting range of the Goliaths. Unfortunately, before it can escape from town, a pack of Attack Bikes have it in their sights, which proceed to shoot it down with their rockets. The last Viking eventually crashes into another building, exploding into a fiery ball of fire.

* * *

(Back to the Hellions...)

The Hellions are not faring too well. The enemy infantries have all garrisoned themselves inside their town buildings, while shooting at the Hellions through windows or from the roof tops. Even as the Hellions swerve and dodge rounds shooting at them from all directions while they speed along the streets, some of them are unfortunate enough to get destroyed by barrages of rounds, grenades, rockets and Molotov cocktails.

Still, most of the Hellions do kill a lot of enemy garrisoned infantries by spraying their Infernal flamethrowers through windows and torching them into ashes. Some of the Hellions even work together to burn down entire structures with flamethrowers. Unlike the previous team of Hellion sent here for patrol, these Hellions are upgraded with Infernal pre-lighters, allowing them to spray more destructive flames. Many buildings in Dusty Rocks get burnt to the ground as the blue flames surge through, reducing all those hiding inside to run out with flames covering their entire body, screaming and rolling on the ground in pain.

The Hellions continue to speed across the streets unstopped. They are not afraid of any more spider mine ambush as the scanner sweeps from their Command Centre have shown that previous Banshee brief aerial bombardment manage to detonate and destroy almost all of the spider mines set by the insurgents.

However, the Hellions' rampage across the town is about to be brought to an abrupt end. As the Hellions speed across the streets, they are suddenly attacked from the rear by Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes. As a result, high speed chases are occurring all across the town again. Hellions, Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes are all locked in a deadly form of race, as the Hellions try to outrun and out-manoeuvre the insurgents' speeding vehicles. Flames, frag grenades, machine gun rounds and rockets fly all over directions as the racing vehicles try to destroy one another in the race.

As minutes pass, the Hellions realise that they are at a disadvantage. Although their Infernal flamethrowers equipped with Infernal pre-lighters turn out to be devastating against the light armour of Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes, the all of the enemy vehicles are faster than them and have longer shooting range. The result is that there are more Hellions that end up as wreckages than the insurgents' vehicles.

Soon the race becomes even more unfair for the Hellions, as enemy Goliaths and Reckoners begin to show up as well. These much heavier vehicles begin to set 'road blocks' all along the roads and streets, cornering the Hellions and contributing to their destruction. The Hellions are no match against these heavier vehicles, as their flamethrowers are less effective against armour.

"This is Hellion leader to all Hellions, everyone fall back! I repeat, fall back!" the Hellion leader has begun to realise that they are now fighting a losing battle, as he has already lost contact with more than 2/3 of his fellow Hellion drivers. But now, retreating is also going to be a problem for the Hellions, as the insurgents have blocked up most of the roads with Goliaths and Reckoners, and enemy Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes are almost everywhere.

In the end, only 5 Hellions manage to escape and retreat safely back to base.

* * *

(Meanwhile...)

While the Hellions and Vikings are struggling in their battles, around 20 Medivacs carrying troops of Marines and Marauders are trying to find a safe spot to drop their troops. The problem is, however, there is hardly any safe spots for the Dominion infantries in Dusty Rocks. When the Medivacs arrive at the town, they are immediately greeted with a barrage of anti-air fire.

"What the f**k! I thought that the tanks and Banshees should have softened up the resistance?" one of the Marine sergeant inside a Medivac wonders, as he watches a number of dropships fall victim to rocket fire, either crashing down in flames or blowing up into fireworks.

Overall, 8 of the Medivacs have been destroyed before they can even drop their troops onto the ground, meaning that the Marines and Marauders inside are killed before they can even get into the fight. The rest, however, manage to drop the Dominion infantries on a number of clearings. Unlike the previous time, this time the Medivacs are ordered to stay in the fight, in order to heal the Marines and Marauders.

As dozens of Marines and Marauders touch ground, they begin to shoot at the insurgents that are still out in the open. Marines fire off their C-14 Impaler gausse rifles at unfortunate Militants, reducing them into terran swiss cheese; while Marauders launch their Punisher concussive grenades at some Rocket Militants trying to take cover behind a pile of rubble, resulting in a series of explosive ball of dust, blood and flesh. Some enemy Marines and Devouts appear and try to defeat the Dominion Marines. Unfortunately for the insurgents, the Marines and Marauders they are fighting now are not going to be as easy as the small patrol team of Marines and Medics they have encountered earlier.

Unlike the previous patrol team, this group of Marines are equipped with Stim packs and combat shields; and the Marauders are also armed with Stim pack and upgraded concussive shells.

"AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHH... ... that stuff... ..."

The Marines and Marauders activate their Stim packs immediately and open fire at the insurgent Marines and Devouts with unmatched ferocity. Impaler spikes and Punisher grenades overwhelm the insurgents, reducing them into heaps of broken armour and dead bodies. The "stimmed" Marines and Marauders also shoot at a number of passing Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes, destroying some of them into scrap metals. The insurgents try to fight back, but most of their rounds are having difficulty in penetrating through the combat shields of Dominion Marines or the heavy armour of the Marauders. Not to mention, Medivacs are still in the scene, because this time the Medivacs are ordered by Colonel Richardson to stay in the scene so as to heal the infantries from their wounds or side-effects of Stim packs.

The "stimmed" Marines and Marauders simply crush all resistance they have encountered; from Militants, Rocket Militants, Marines, and Devouts, to Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes and even Goliaths. However, as the MMM (1) continue to advance, they are greeted with even more resistance; from garrisoned insurgents hiding inside civilian buildings. Although many buildings have been burnt down by earlier Hellion raids, there are still many of them standing, allowing Militants, Rocket Militants, Nod Marines and Devouts to hide inside and shoot at the MMM outside through windows and on top of roofs.

Caught in the open, many Marines and Marauders fall victim to barrage of rounds, grenades, rockets and Molotov cocktails as they slowly fight their way through the streets. Medivacs desperately try to heal the Marines and Marauders, but many end up getting shot down by rockets and Marine fire. The Marines and Marauders try to storm into the garrisoned buildings, only to find all entrances to the garrisoned buildings sealed tight and shut.

Unable to storm and confront the garrisoned insurgents, the Marines and Marauders have to resort to demolish entire buildings in order to flush out the insurgents. To a certain extent, the plan works as the "stimmed" Marines and Marauders manage to create enough concentrated firepower to destroy entire buildings. However, as they destroy more garrisoned structures, more of them are killed as well by retaliatory fire from the garrisoned insurgents. Most of the Medivacs that are supporting the Dominion Marines and Marauders have been shot down, leaving a few badly damaged and unpowered ones that are hovering above the Dominion infantries.

* * *

(Back to the Crucio Siege Tank formation...)

After a few dozen rounds of exchange fire, the Dominion Crucio Siege Tanks have finally annihilated all the enemy Arclite Siege Tanks through artillery barrage. However, only ¼ of the original number of Crucios are left operational and almost all escort Marines are dead after the series of exchange of artillery fire. It has taken a few scanner sweeps from Base 17 Command Centre to confirm that all enemy Siege Tanks have been destroyed.

"All units, job well done! Base has confirmed all enemy tanks destroyed! Now let's proceed for the actual operation!"

The lead Crucio Siege Tank commander congratulates his team and encourages them to resume their mission to lay siege of the town of Dusty Rocks. Too bad that everything will not go according to their plans today.

Suddenly, a series of transporting drills burst through the ground below the Siege Tanks, shredding them apart into pieces of twisted metal. Some unlucky Marines are also caught in the drill tips, ending up as bloody minced meat.

"What the... ... what the f**k is that?" one of the surviving Siege Tank commander asks. However, there is no reply from the lead Siege Tank commander. It turns out that the lead Siege Tank is one of the unfortunate tanks to get caught at the receiving ends of the enormous drill tips. Only a few Marines and 4 Siege Tanks are lucky enough not to be above the drills.

The drills open up like a metallic Nydus Worm, deploying a number of enemy Marines and Devouts, as well as around 8 Goliaths. Then, as fast as they appear, the transporting drills quickly disappear back into the underground, leaving piles of scrap metals and dead bodies in their wake.

As soon as they have been deployed, the enemy Marines, Devouts and Goliaths immediately open fire at the remaining Marines and Siege Tanks. Outnumbered, the remaining Marines fall to enemy gun fire. Without a leader, the crew of the 4 surviving Siege Tanks panic before they realise that the distance between themselves and the enemy forces are too short Siege Tanks in siege mode to return fire. As the remaining Siege Tanks struggle to convert themselves back into tank mode, the enemy forces have begun attacking them. 3 of the Siege Tanks get destroyed before they can complete their transformation. The remaining tank tries to fight its way out with its twin 90mm cannons, but it is hopelessly outnumbered and it eventually shares the same fate as its rest of the squad.

* * *

(Back to the MMM inside Dusty Rocks...)

An hour has passed since the Dominion infantry drop. By now, only one underpowered and badly damaged Medivac dropship remains, as well as 6 Marines and 2 Marauders. They do, however, have successfully demolished most of the garrisoned buildings and flushed out all garrisoned insurgents. Many enemy Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes and Goliaths are also destroyed, and the rest are in retreat. For this small group of survivors, it seem that they have finally survived and won this skirmish.

The fact is however, the battle has not ended yet. Without warning, a Reckoner bursts out from the ground beneath the MMM, throwing the entire group of Marines and Marauders off their balance and into the air. One Marine gets caught in the drill tip of the Reckoner and gets a gaping hole completely through his chest, killing him instantly.

Inside the Reckoner, 4 Rocket Militants and 2 Devouts shoot through the portholes of the Reckoner at the downed Marines and Marauders. The chain guns of the Devouts tear the Marines apart as they try to recover, while rockets fired from Rocket Militants slam into the Marauders still struggling to stand up. As a result, all the Marines are now unable to get up again; while one Marauder manage to stand up to his feet, the other is now in pieces of flesh and metal. The only Medivac left tries to heal the Dominion infantries when they are trying to get up, but it is immediately shot down by Rocket Militant fire.

The lone Marauder fights back, activating his Stim pack and attacks the Reckoner with all out aggression. Punisher concussive grenades slam to the side of the Reckoner, exploding and denting one side of the Reckoner. Although heavily damaged, the Reckoner's armour plating protects its passengers from harm's way, allowing them to finish off the lone Marauder. Chain gun rounds and rockets slam into the Marauder's armour. The result is a display of sparks and blood spurting out from the multiple cracks in the Marauder's armour, as the Marauder slowly collapse onto the ground, dead.

* * *

(Back in Base 17 Command Centre...)

"COMMANDER, 77% OF ALL UNITS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT TO QUELL THE UPRISING IN DUSTY ROCKS IS ANNIHILATED. THE REMAINING UNITS HAVE SAFELY RETREATED BACK TO BASE... ..."

"Connect me to _Odin's Fury_, I need to report to Lieutenant Commander Reikson about this matter immediately!"

"ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATION UPLINK TO _ODIN'S FURY_, PLEASE STAND BY... BEEP... BEEP... UPLINK FAILED! COMMUNICATION TRAFFIC TO _ODIN'S FURY_ IS NOW FULL... YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER ESTIMATED 30 MINUTES FOR YOUR TURN TO COMMUNICATE WITH _ODIN'S FURY_... ..."

"What! What do you mean full? What's going on out there? Which bugger is jamming up the communication traffic?"

"IT APPEARS THAT BASE 17 IS NOT THE ONLY BASE ON MAR SARA THAT IS FACING THE CRISIS OF AN UPRISING... HUNDREDS OF OTHER BASES ALL ACROSS THE ENTIRE PLANET ARE NOW FACING MUTINY THAT ARE THREATENING THE SECURITY OF ALL BASES... AMONG THEM, 57 BASES ARE NOW UNDER ATTACK FROM INSURGENTS WORLD WIDE... BEEP... BEEP... WARNING! OUR SENSOR TOWERS HAVE PICKED UP SIGNATURES OF INSURGENT FORCES APPROACHING BASE AT HIGH SPEED, PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES IS ADVICED... ..."

"What? Sound the alarm, alert the entire base, prepare all defences, and call all units to prepare for battle!"

"AFFIRMATIVE... COMMAND TO ALL UNITS IN BASE 17, INVASION TO BASE IMMINENT... ALL UNITS, PREPARE FOR DEFENCE OPERATIONS... ..."

* * *

(A mile away from Base 17...)

Sirens can be heard, wailing out from Base 17 a mile away.

A pack of vehicles is speeding towards the source of the siren; the pack consisting of Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes, along with a few Arclite Siege Tanks. Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes are churning out dust behind their paths as they make a beeline towards Base 17 at top speed. Behind them, Arclite Siege Tanks lumber slowly, also intending to head towards Base 17. As the Nod vehicles speed across a tall ridge that oversees the base below, they have the base in their sight...

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Mar Sara Insurrection: Finishing Blow

The efforts taken by Omega Squadron to quell the colonist uprising all across Mar Sara have failed. Now, before they can plan their next moves, they are forced to face the angry colonists again, who have taken the fight right into their bases. Meanwhile, the actual forces of Brotherhood of Nod are approaching Mar Sara to deliver the death blow to the severely weakened Omega Squadron.

* * *

(1) Marines, Marauders and Medivacs

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Attack Bike

Role: Light anti-air/anti-vehicle scout

Armament: 3 Rocket pods, advanced scanners

Appearance: Similar to Rocket Bike in C&C4 completed with blue Tib core upgrade

Small, light and fast, Attack Bikes are the fastest vehicle in Nod's arsenal. With top speed capable of beating even Vultures upgraded with ion thrusters, Attack Bikes are ideal hit-and-run units for the Brotherhood. Equipped with advanced scanners and rocket pods, Attack Bikes are the best counters against cloaked Dominion gunships such as Wraiths or Banshees. Despite better armour than previous generations, Attack Bikes are still brittle if attacked, hence they are not recommended for direct confrontation.

* * *

Phew, another act completed. Sorry if this update is long, just having fun with SC2 beta. Anyway, a fleet battle will be coming up next, so stay tuned!

Don't forget to R&R.


	7. Act 6: MS Insurrection: Finishing Blow

Thanks to SulliMike23 and scrin and steel talons rule for their reviews on this story. As for whether CABAL will ever make its presence, frankly speaking I have never thought of that. The thing is what I know about CABAL is that all of what has remained of the rogue AI had been used by Kane to create LEGION. So CABAL is inside LEGION. Probably I may let CABAL make its return, but now the story would mainly focus about the conflicts between Nod and the factions in Starcraft universe.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 6: MAR SARA INSURRECTION: FINISHING BLOW**

(On board of _Odin's Fury_...)

Chaos is ensuing aboard the command bridge of _Odin's Fury_, as a flood of distress calls and messages fills up the HQ command and control room of the Omega Squadron flagship,

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM BASE 28... ..."

"Commander sir! ... bzzzt... bzzzt... This is Colonel Ace... bzzzt... bzzzt... from Base 28... bzzzt... bzzzt... we're under heavy attack by the insurgents... bzzzt...bzzzt... don't know how long we can hold out... bzzzt... bzzzt... request Battlecruiser support... bzzzt... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM BASE 90... ..."

"BOOOOOOMMM... Sir... bzzzt... bzzzt... BOOM... we're under heavy fire from... BOOM... those insurgents sir... BOOM... they're right at our doorsteps now... KABOOM... requesting BC (1) support... KABOOM... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM... ..."

"Oh for emperor's sake would someone shut that robot up?" Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson is now getting frustrated of so many distress signals pouring out from the robotic adjutant's mouth.

But he does have to admit that the situation across Mar Sara is critical. For days and weeks, he had been expecting some sort of mutiny by local colonists, due to long periods of abnormal silence and lack of activities in most parts of the colony. This is why he had ordered all units to stay in high alert during this period of eerie silence. Then, as he had expected, there was this uprising by the local colonists. Unfortunately, the immense scale of this uprising was one thing that Reikson had failed to anticipate.

Another thing that Reikson had failed to anticipate is the identity of the mysterious faction that had been backing this uprising. He knew that the colonists would never stand a chance against the entire Omega Squadron unless a major organisation is backing them up with weapons and vehicles. He thought that maybe either the Kel-Morian Combine or Umojan Protectorate would have the resources to support insurgency of this scale. However, when footages of the battles and reports by his base commanders reach to his hands, he knew that it was neither of them. Although there are old familiar arsenals sighted by his troops, most of the weapons and vehicles used by the insurgents are those that he had never seen before throughout his decades of service in both the Terran Confederates and Terran Dominion. He had encountered Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan Protectorate in some recent conflicts and he knew that these never before seen weapons are not their creations. The only clue to the identification of the mysterious mastermind behind this uprising is the symbol: a black and red hexagon with a scorpion tail within. Based on his experience, Reikson had never heard of any terran organisation that bears this symbol. In his mind, if this symbol is genuine, this means there is another new mysterious terran faction available in the Koprulu Sector. If this is truly a newly established terran organisation, then he cannot but help to imagine how powerful this organisation is to create and innovate a variety of new weapons and military technology in huge quantity, enough to challenge the latest military hardware of the Terran Dominion.

Another factor of consideration by Reikson is the 'mysterious green crystals'. Just weeks ago, this entire planet has been hit by outbreak of these alien crystals, causing damage to terran life and property, as well as drop in amount of available resource gathered. Despite combined efforts of both his and the local scientists, they still could not determine how to safely harvest this new potential source of resources, which has proven to contain both minerals and vespene gas in a single package. Even stranger still, the locals, who had been getting sick from the outbreak for weeks, somehow manage to thrive under exposure of these crystals and fight with greater efficiency against his troops rather than dying from the prolonged exposure.

While Lieutenant Commander Reikson is deep in his thoughts, the adjutant's feminine mechanical voice disrupts his thinking,

"BEEP... BEEP... COMMANDER, WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OF 67% OF OUR ENTIRE GROUND FORCES STATIONED ON THE SURFACE OF MAR SARA... CASUALTIES ARE STILL CLIMBING... ALL REMAINING BASES ARE ALL REQUESTING FOR BATTLECRUISER BACKUP FOR THE DEFENCE AND PRESERVATION OF OUR REMAINING FORCES... ..."

Knowing that he must make a decision to help the Omega Squadron of surviving this crisis, which may risk annihilation of his entire ground troops, Reikson finally makes his orders,

"Alright! Adjutant, pass these orders to all Battlecruisers: This is _Odin's Fury_ to all Battlecruisers; our brothers on the ground are facing the threat of total annihilation by the rebellious colonists of Mar Sara, all Battlecruisers are to head towards your assigned coordinates with your Viking escorts to provide support for the ground troops, now head out... ..."

"BEEP... BEEP... _sirens sounding_... WARNING... WARNING... UNIDENTIFIED FLEET DETECTED APPROACHING FROM WARP SPACE... ESTIMATING CONTACT IN ONE MINUTE... ..."

Now this is totally unexpected by the seasoned veteran commander of Omega Squadron. This is impossible to be of mere coincidence that some enemies of the Terran Dominion would like to launch an invasion upon Mar Sara in a time like this. Sure, Mar Sara is truly in a state of crisis, but the Dominion has made sure that none of its enemies had any knowledge of what is going on in this stricken planet by quarantining the entire planet, unless there is one possibility: the mysterious new organisation with black and red hexagon with scorpion tail within as a symbol, the one that is most likely to be responsible for backing up this series of uprisings across the entire planet.

"_sirens sounding_... WARNING... UNIDENTIFIED FLEET APPROACHING FROM WARP SPACE... ESTIMATING CONTACT IN 30 SECONDS... ..."

If it is true that this mysterious new terran faction has enough military might not just to support planet-wide insurgency but even to afford its own fleet of starships, then this organisation is one that must not be trifled with. Worse of all, there is no telling of what kind of starships the enemy is possessing with. Nevertheless, Reikson knows that regardless of what type of enemies they would encounter, they must never be underestimated.

"_sirens sounding_... WARNING... UNIDENTIFIED FLEET APPROACHING FROM WARP SPACE... ESTIMATING CONTACT IN 15 SECONDS... ..."

"This is _Odin's Fury_ to all Battlecruisers: consider the last order as void! All units, prepare to engage incoming fleet! I repeat, prepare to engage incoming fleet!"

"_sirens sounding_... WARNING... UNIDENTIFIED FLEET APPROACHING FROM WARP SPACE... ESTIMATING CONTACT IN 10 SECONDS... ..."

All the Battlecruisers and Vikings, which initially intend to turn course towards the surface, turn to face towards the space, bracing themselves for the encounter of a possible hostile fleet.

"_sirens sounding_... WARNING... UNIDENTIFIED FLEET APPROACHING FROM WARP SPACE... ESTIMATING CONTACT IN 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... ..."

* * *

A warp rift appears in the orbit of Mar Sara, a visible distance away from the armada of the Omega Squadron. As the spiral rift tears open the fabric of space itself, an incoming fleet can be seen approaching from the warp space.

A RATHER HUGE FLLET.

The fleet is composed of 20 or more ships of heavy cruiser category, between 20 to 30 light corvettes of unknown model, and one large strange looking ship that sticks out from the rest of the fleet, presumably to be flagship of the fleet.

Each heavy cruiser has the basic shape similar to a Behemoth-class Battlecruiser, except that it is a class smaller and lighter. Instead of a hammer-shaped head, the head of these cruisers are round and shaped like a head of an amphibian or reptile, complete with a mouth that appears to be an opening for a hangar. Mounted on each side of the "head" is a huge cannon of some sort.

The corvettes are streamlined, cylindrical and laterally flat, with a pair of corvette-class turbo boost engine on each side of the hull and 2 antennae-like structure at the midsection. Each corvette is armed with a sort of a cannon installed at the front of the hull.

The largest ship in the fleet, is rather unique in design. It is flat, disc-shaped with a bridge placed in the middle and 3 warp engines on the side. Hangar ports are also visible at the side of the ship. Below the ship, there are 3 massive rotatable cannon turrets. Overall, it looks like the old Terran Explorer-class Science Vessel, except it is Battlecruiser size.

All the ships share a similar colour scheme: black and red with symbols of a scorpion tail inside a hexagon.

* * *

From the bridge of _Odin's Fury_, Lieutenant Commander Reikson can see the incoming unknown fleet; and from the looks of its size, the other party is certainly not here for a friendly visit. Although the ships on the other side are all smaller than his Battlecruisers (except for the lone Battlecruiser-size Science Vessel-like ship), they far outnumber them. Not risking a direct confrontation, Reikson decides to gamble for a more diplomatic approach,

"This is Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson of the Terran Dominion Armed Forces Omega Squadron speaking from _Odin's Fury_; unknown fleet, you have encroached and violated Dominion air space; either pull back now or surrender, or we'll be forced to treat you as hostiles and attack!"

There is no response from the opposing fleet; other than the hangar doors of all opposing cruisers and the lone flagship opening up, releasing swarms of small streamlined fighters that are armed with rocket pods on each side of the nose.

"Unknown fleet, this is your final warning! Pull off your fighters right now and surrender, or we'll be forced to attack!"

This time, there is an incoming voice transmission, a rather hostile one... ...

"We do not care who you are, because we are the Brotherhood of Nod! We only obey to the words of Kane! You Dominion scums have oppressed humanity for too long, and we say ENOUGH! Prepare to face your doom!"

As soon as the hostile voice transmission ends, hundreds of opposing fighters speed towards the fleet of the Omega Squadron, while the cannons of the opposing fleet begin to glow. All hell is about to break loose... ...

* * *

(On board of the Nod flagship _Jonah_...)

A man puts down the transmission speaker. He is on board of his flagship _Jonah_, a Nod Leviathan-class carrier. He is a young Latin with short, greased jet black hair. He wears a set of black and red military admiral uniform, bearing a Nod symbol. Despite his youth, he is the highest commanding officer in this fleet. His name is not known; and to his followers, he is only known as "the Commander".

The Commander had been assigned by his great leader Kane, to plan this insurrection on Mar Sara. So far, his plan is working very well.

He knows that the colonists of Mar Sara had been unhappy with the oppressive rule of Terran Dominion for years since its founding; hence by seeding Tiberium onto Mar Sara, he is making the anti-Dominion spirits among Mar Sara colonists to get even worse, thanks to the failure of the Dominion to control Tiberium. This is a risky move though, because if top Dominion scientist can get hold of and study Tiberium for even longer, they may find a way to control and utilise Tiberium as well. That is why the Commander had earlier sent spies to infiltrate the Mar Sara Magistrate Building to monitor the actions taken by the young Marshal of Mar Sara and his local militia. When his spies reported that the top scientists of the Dominion Science Corps such as Colonel Doctor Church is arriving to take samples of Tiberium, he sent a small contingent of Venoms led by a Medusa corvette to intercept and destroy the scientists, prompting the Dominion to take their research onto Mar Sara soil itself. As he had predicted, the Dominion did send a squadron down to Mar Sara to quarantine the entire planet. He knew that based on the mindset of Dominion High Command, the Terran Dominion would like to research more about Tiberium without letting their enemies know about it, thus leading to the actions of a forceful take-over of highest command in Mar Sara and quarantine of the planet without allowing any evacuation of the colonists. The actions of the Terran Dominion will allow colonist unrest to reach a breaking point, and angry colonists are very easy to manipulate.

Before the seeding of Tiberium onto Mar Sara, the Commander had firstly sent down a small engineering team and a number of recruiters down onto Mar Sara. The engineering team, equipped with a variety of cloaking devices, dug and constructed a network of underground tunnels and underground storage vaults. The network was dug deep so that it could avoid detection from scanner sweeps by Orbital Command Centres. After the underground network had finished, smuggled weapons and vehicles, as well as a number of their own arsenals, are sent down to Mar Sara through specially cloaked Carryalls, and brought to the vaults. After the weapons and vehicles are prepared, the seeding begins, and the rest is history. With the help of the recruiters, the Commander had successfully rallied almost the entire population of local colonists to fight for the Nod cause. By having the colonists to attack and overwhelm the Dominion ground forces, it would be easier to wipe out the entire Dominion forces on Mar Sara.

Right now, he is undergoing the next phase of his plan: to destroy the Dominion fleet. By doing so, he would stop the Dominion from utilising their Battlecruisers to bomb the colonist militant forces on the surface, allowing them to finish off the Dominion ground forces. Then, by destroying the Dominion fleet, he would gain total control of the planet and its growing Tiberium supply. Once the Brotherhood of Nod gained total control of the planet, it would teach the local colonists more about Tiberium and how to control and utilise it, gaining their trust and support. Kane's propaganda would also sway the colonists to pledge full loyalty to the Brotherhood of Nod, essentially gaining more manpower for the Brotherhood as well. With Mar Sara and its colonists under Nod control, it would be easier to proceed the next part of their campaign.

So now, the Commander is inside his flagship _Jonah_, in command of a fleet comprising of more than 20 Basilisk warships and around 30 Medusa support corvette. In each Basilisk and his ship, inside houses a squad of 20-50 Venoms, Cobras and Vertigos, with a division of Nod ground forces complete with Carryalls and one MCV each. In the onset of an incoming fleet battle, the Commander has scrambled all Venoms.

"COMMANDER, ALL VENOMS HAVE BEEN DEPOLYED AS YOU HAVE ORDERED. ALL SHIPS ARE NOW AWAITING YOUR COMMAND TO BEGIN THE ATTACK... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE DOMINION FLEET... ..." the mechanical voice of LEGION speaks.

"Unknown fleet, this is your final warning! Pull off your fighters right now and surrender, or we'll be forced to attack!"

"LEGION, put me a transmission to that ship." The Commander orders the onboard AI.

"ACKNOWLEDGED, PLEASE STAND BY... COMMANDER, YOU ARE NOW ONLINE WITH THE DOMINION COMMUNICATION LINE, YOU CAN BEGIN STATING YOUR MESSAGE... ..."

"We do not care who you are, because we are the Brotherhood of Nod! We only obey to the words of Kane! You Dominion scums have oppressed humanity for too long, and we say ENOUGH! Prepare to face your doom!"

"COMMANDER, I HAVE LOCATED AND MARKED ALL DOMINION SHIPS AND VESSELS AS HOSTILES. ALL OUR UNITS HAVE BEEN UPDATED WITH THEIR ASSIGNED TARGETS AND ARE READY FOR BATTLE. THEY ARE NOW REQUESTING FOR YOUR ORDERS TO BEGIN THE ATTACK."

"Alright LEGION, tell all units: commence the attack!"

* * *

The massive cannons of one Basilisk warship begin to glow, until a huge red laser beam shoots out from the cannon, striking the hull of one of the Omega Squadron's Battlecruiser. However, the beam does not end there; instead, it reflects and strikes another nearby Battlecruiser... and reflects again, striking a nearby Viking, badly damaging the fighter.

"Commander, we'll hit! We'll hit! One of the enemy ship has fired off its laser thing that bounces around like a Mutalisk spit! Requesting orders to engage!" the captain of one of the hit Battlecruiser reports frantically to Lieutenant Commander Reikson.

"All units; the unknown fleet is confirmed as hostiles. You are all cleared to fire at will!"

* * *

All hells break loose as two fleets engage each other in the orbit of Mar Sara. Terran Behemoth-class Battlecruiser let loose their laser batteries, while Nod Basilisk warships fire off their Spectrum laser. Venoms and Vikings engage each other in dazzling display of space dogfights, as rockets and Lanzer torpedoes fly around in all directions.

As minutes pass since the battle over Mar Sara orbit begins, debris can be seen littered over the battlefield as both sides are taking in casualties. Venoms blown to bits... Vikings exploded in space... Basilisks broken apart... Battlecruisers on fire... Medusas torn into parts... ...

Initially, the battle seems to be even. Vikings are more rugged and heavily armed than Venoms, and Lanzer torpedoes are capable to ripping the smaller and more lightly armoured fighter into pieces, but the Venoms are faster and more agile, not to mention that the Venoms are currently heavily outnumbering the Vikings. Nod Basilisk warships are a class smaller than Terran Behemoth-class Battlecruisers, but once again, the Basilisks outnumber their Dominion counterparts and their Spectrum laser are equally as devastating as the laser batteries combined in the Battlecruisers.

However, as the battle progresses, it gets more one sided, tipping towards the favour of the Nod fleet. The turning point begins when Basilisk warships begin creating Stasis field around the Terran fleet, trapping more than half of the Terran fleet in stasis while the others get overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Nod fleet. The Nod Medusa Corvettes have been launching EMP missiles against the Terran Battlecruisers, powering down the powerful Terran ships and preventing them from attacking or using their famed Yamato cannons. Medusas are also firing their Flux cannons against Battlecruisers as well, already destroying large bulk of them. Some Medusas are also using Matrix solidifier technique to instantly repair Basilisk warships in the midst of the battle. With the support of the Medusas, the fleet of Venoms and Basilisks are able to edge out against the Dominion fleet of Vikings and Battlecruisers with their overwhelming numbers.

* * *

(On board of Nod flagship _Jonah_...)

The Commander watches the battle through the bridge of his flagship _Jonah_. His fleet is winning; 10 of the 12 enemy Battlecruisers have been reduced into chunks of scrap metal, and 90% of the enemy Vikings have been eliminated. On his side, his losses are limited to 9 Basilisks, 9 Medusas and 40% of his Venoms. Although quite a huge loss, it is nowhere compared to those of the Dominion fleet, which is like almost annihilated.

"COMMANDER, THE LOCATION OF THE COMMANDER OF THE TERRAN DOMINION ARMED FORCES OMEGA SQUADRON, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER GREGORY REIKSON, HAS BEEN DETECTED. HE IS INSIDE THE BRIDGE OF THIS BATTLECRUISER NAMED _ODIN'S FURY_. IT IS ADVISED TO DESTROY THIS BATTLECRUISER TO KNOCK OUT THE ENTIRE CHAIN OF COMMAND OF THE TERRAN FORCES ON THIS PLANET, BRINGING THE REMAINING TERRAN FORCES ON MAR SARA INTO DISARRAY." LEGION advises to the Commander, highlighting one of the remaining Battlecruiser shown on the command interface.

"Got it LEGION! Broadcast to the entire fleet to target _Odin's Fury_ as primary target. Order the hangar crews in _Jonah_ to scramble all Sortie Drones. LEGION, set _Odin's Fury_ as primary target for all Sortie Drones."

"ACKNOWLEDGED, COMMANDER!"

Within a few seconds, the hangar doors of _Jonah_ opens up, releasing 9 Sortie Drones towards the their primary target: _Odin's Fury_. At the same time, all Basilisk warships, Medusas and Venoms have switched their attention towards the Omega Squadron flagship.

* * *

(On board of Dominion flagship _Odin's Fury_...)

Reikson watches in horror as more than 90% of his fleet has been annihilated by this mysterious Brotherhood of Nod armada. From the bridge of his flagship, he has witnessed the entire battle, and he is completely awed by the array of weaponries the enemy has possessed. The enemy units may not be as strong or as sturdy as theirs, but many of them have unique abilities. The enemy primary warships fire powerful lasers that can deflect from the initial target to adjacent ones like Mutalisk glaive worm attacks, and they have the ability to create stasis fields like Protoss Arbiters. Enemy support corvettes are capable of firing EMP missiles to lock down their ships and drain enemy power, or firing a type of beam weapon that can destroy Battlecruisers in seconds, or even be able to instantly repair allied ships. The enemy fighters are small and fragile, but they make up their shortcomings with their speed, agility and numbers. After witnessing the enemy arsenal, Reikson now has a rough idea of who may be responsible for destroying Colonel Doctor Church's research team.

"BEEP... BEEP... OUR FORCES ARE UNDER ATTACK! _Sirens sounding..._WARNING... WARNING... _ODIN'S FURY _IS UNDER ATTACK!"

The alert by the ship's adjutant comes as Reikson and his crew suddenly feel a series of sudden jolts spreading across the entire ship. Sirens and warning buzzers sound out across the entire ship, while red warning lights are illuminating across the bridge.

"Sir! Sector C has been damaged! We've lost 2 left ATA batteries!" one of the crew shouts out.

"Sir! Sector E and G have been breached! We've lost 4 right ATS batteries!" another one exclaims.

"Sir! Left stabilizers are failing! We're losing power!" and another reports the damage taken by the ship.

"Set all powers to the laser batteries! Shoot down anything that moves!" Reikson orders.

"Sir! We've been hit by one of the enemy corvette's super beam!"

"What are you waiting for, fools! Focus fire on the enemy corvettes before their beams tear this ship apart!"

"Yes sir!"

Although Reikson has never seen such weapons before, his long combat experience allow him to guess what roles are the different types of enemy ships playing. He has already guessed that the enemy light corvettes are important support ships that provide a variety of combat support for the enemy fleet, and these corvettes are usually unarmed and vulnerable unless they are using their special beam weapons, which appear to drain a lot of the corvette's power. Hence, he has ordered all laser batteries of _Odin's Fury_ to focus fire onto those corvettes first.

As Reikson watches from his bridge the destruction of a few more Medusas by _Odin's Fury_ laser batteries, he shifts his attention to the largest ship in the enemy fleet. So far, that ship has not launched any form of assault, other than the recent release of some kind of interceptor drones against his ship, leading to Reikson's speculation that it has a similar role as a Protoss Carrier, which means it is most likely to be the enemy flagship in this fleet. Reikson knows that he is losing in this fleet battle; the other last remaining Battlecruiser has been put into stasis by the enemy primary warships, and there is almost no more Vikings left to defend the ship, meaning that they are now almost fighting alone. So, there is only one possible method to tip the scale of battle; destroy the enemy flagship, and disrupt the entire chain of command in the enemy fleet to buy enough time for a tactical retreat.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson speaking... alright everyone, charge up the Yamato Cannon now and target that oversized Science Vessel/Carrier hybrid out there!" Reikson orders his crew, referring to _Jonah_.

"Yes sir! Behemoth reactor reactor is running at optimum 95%, charging the Yamato Cannon right now!"

A loud hum can be heard, as the signature hammerhead-shaped bow of the Battlecruiser opens up, with a charging ball of energy ready to be unleashed off from the oversized cannon.

However, before the Yamato Cannon can be fired, a Medusa launches an EMP missile, directly hitting the bow of _Odin's Fury_ and shutting down all the power across the massive ship. The charging ball of energy dissipates as it gradually loses power.

"What's going on? Where's my Yamato Cannon?" Reikson demands for an explanation.

"Sir! The enemy has us locked down! Behehmoth reactor is responding at only 1%! The whole ship is unpowered!"

"Try to restart the reactor! We need to get the power back online on this ship!"

A series of jolts is suddenly felt across the entire ship, and explosions are heard everywhere. It is clear to everyone that _Odin's Fury _is under attack again, and it is now the centre of focus fire by the enemy fleet.

"Sir! Ship integrity critical at only 35%! All weapons systems are down! Behemoth reactor responding at only 5%!"

"Is the comm link still working?" Reikson asks.

"Yes sir! The comms are still functioning, but we don't know how much longer can it hold."

"Good! Transmit the message back to Korhal: Mar Sara has fallen under control to this new organisation called Brotherhood of Nod; we've been overrun by this new enemy and we need a lot of reinforcements; the colonists of Mar Sara are also starting open rebellion against the Dominion and I believe that it is most likely to have been instigated by this Brotherhood of Nod; I am now sending back footages of this battle back to HQ for your reference; this is Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson of the Omega Squadron speaking, over and out!"

"TRANSMITTING MESSAGE TO KORHAL, PLEASE STAND BY... TRANSMIT SUCCESS..."

"That's good, let's hope that the emperor would send down the Alpha Squadron or others down here to... ..."

KABBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM

A large explosion occurs, and fires have begun to break up.

"Sir! Ship integrity super-critical at only 5%! The bow is breaking off from the main ship frame!"

"Get the emergency escape pods ready! Tell every crew evacuate; we're abandoning this ship!" the commander of the Omega Squadron orders.

"Yes sirrr... ..." one of the officers is saluting when he feels dumbstruck of what he has seen.

Confused of the crew's reaction, Reikson turns back to the direction where the dumbstruck officer is looking at. His eyes widen as he look out through the bridge of his ship... ...

9 sleek looking Sortie Drones, each silver and red in colouration and has a single red optic, charge towards them at full speed, firing off laser guns directly right into the bridge. The attack punches through a hole in the bridge _Odin's Fury_, creating a vacuum suction that sucks all the crew out into dead space.

* * *

(Back on board of _Jonah_...)

The Commander watches in satisfaction as the once mighty Battlecruiser _Odin's Fury_ breaks apart piece by piece. Earlier, he had seen the enemy flagship turning its head and facing directly towards him, opening up its gigantic main bow cannon and charging up a Yamato Cannon. The Commander knows that the Yamato Cannon is aimed for _Jonah_, and it will be a great hazard to his safety if the Yamato Cannon connects. Hence he had quickly contacted all remaining Medusas to EMP the Battlecruiser before it can fire its signature weapon, ending its last stand. Unpowered and drifting helplessly in space, the Dominion flagship became a sitting duck for his Basilisks and Medusas, which proceed to finish it off.

Only one enemy Battlecruiser remains, still trapped in stasis. Once the stasis field fades off, it will be a piece of cake to take it out with more than 10 functional Basilisks and around 15 operational Medusas. The Vikings have all been defeated by the Venoms, with only a few straggling ones left to retreat back to the surface after they have witnessed the destruction of their flagship. With the Omega Squadron fleet obliterated, it means that the Brotherhood has control over the orbit of Mar Sara. Now, it is time to take over ground control as well.

"Brothers, you have all done an excellent job! Now... as we watch those Battlecruisers... the icon of Dominion tyranny... crumble before our might... I say it is time... to go to the ground... and liberate Mar Sara! ONE VISION! ONE PURPOSE! PEACE THROUGH POWER!"

"Peace through power! Peace through power! Peace through power... ..."

The Nod forces cheer along as they load their ground troops and vehicles into Carryalls, which proceed to depart from the hangars of the Basilisks and _Jonah_ itself, heading towards Mar Sara surface. Following the Carryalls are Venoms, Cobras and Vertigos, all ready to deal the finishing blow to the Omega Squadron.

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Dawn of the Scorpions

The Omega Squadron fleet has been obliterated, and its ground forces are getting overwhelmed by angry Mar Sara colonist militant forces. With the arrival of the actual Nod army, and the loss of head commander Gregory Reikson and command ship _Odin's Fury_, Omega Squadron is facing the danger of total annihilation. Meanwhile, the Mar Sara Colonial Militia are also struggling to survive against the onslaught of colonist militant forces and Nod reinforcements, when they receive a mysterious transmission coming from Riksville.

* * *

(1) Battlecruiser

* * *

My OC profile: the Commander

Born: Unknown

Race: Terran

Gender: Male

Hair: Black

Eye: Black

Noticeable feature: Latino race and quite short in height

Affilation: Commander of the Brotherhood of Nod armed forces and a member of the Inner Circle

Everything about the young Latin known as "the Commander" is relatively unknown. It is only known that this young man first entered into Nod military service as a training officer for the developing Nod armed forces during the era of the Great War in Koprulu Sector. Then, for his outstanding commanding potential during those training exercises, he became into Kane's favourite, and even got offered a place in the Inner Circle by Kane.

Of course, his promotion caused quite a lot of jealous reactions from among the more senior officers and the senior members of the Inner Circle. It was rumoured that he was chosen by Kane simply because he is the descendant of the Nod folklore hero known only as "the Legendary Insurgent".

Whether the rumours are true or not, there is no denying of his genius in his military strategic planning and skills in commanding entire army. Criticisms against him were first silenced when he was the one who came up with this near flawless battleplan for starting the Mar Sara Insurrection in order to allow Kane and the Brotherhood to take control of the planet. The deployment of the small Venom and Medusa squad to intercept and destroy Colonel Doctor Church's research team was the first proof of his successful command. For his success, he was the first choice for Kane to lead the Mar Sara Insurrection since it was also his own battleplan.

Besides being a brilliant commander, he is also a leading computer engineer in the Nod ranks. In fact, his long line of family was tasked for constantly upgrading and maintaining LEGION since the last ascension from earth, allowing this Nod's trump card to remain online for more than 400 years. He himself had also interacted and worked with LEGION for a long time even before his promotion into the Inner Circle. As a result, he was the closest man other than Kane to LEGION in the Brotherhood. LEGION itself had also expressed signs of respect to him, and would gladly obey to his orders and give some strategic advices to him.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Carryall

Role: Planetary heavy troop transport

Armament: None, some upgraded with cloaking device

Appearance: Looks a little similar to the Nod Carryall in C&C3, but bigger and bulkier.

When there is an invasion to a new planet in mind, the Brotherhood of Nod would require the use of these Carryalls to transport ground troops from planet to planet. With history dating back to the Third Tiberium War, Nod Carryalls have evolved to be bigger and more heavily armoured, and have a larger capacity. The newest Carryalls are now capable of lifting and transporting MCV, as well as other large heavy units. However, Carryalls lack the warp engines required to travel through warp space, hence they often need to be stored in larger ships such as Basilisks and Leviathans alongside with ground units in order to perform a planetary invasion.

My Nod Unit Profile: Basilisk

Role: Heavy anti-armour warship

Armament: Dual Spectrum laser cannon, Stasis Projector

Appearance: Similar to Nod Basilisks in C&C4, but much bigger at a size slightly smaller than a Battlecruiser

Evolving from a heavy aerial laser platform to a cruiser-size primary warship, the Basilisk warships form the backbone of the Nod Armada. Armed with dual Spectrum laser cannons, Basilisks fire devastating laser beams that can deflect from their initial targets to other adjacent targets, wiping out entire fleets in a few shots. Like their namesake, Basilisks can freeze enemy units in a Stasis Field through its Stasis projector, allowing Basilisks to trap large bulks of enemy forces in a Stasis Field, so that Nod forces can outnumber and finish off those enemies that are not yet trapped, before turning back to those that are trapped.

My Nod Unit Profile: Leviathan

Role: Heavy capital command ship and carrier/bomber

Armament: 3 Rotatable Pyridium Firebomb turrets, Up to 9 Sortie Drones

Appearance: Similar to Nod Leviathans in C&C4, looks like a Science Vessel from the outside but much bigger at Battlecruiser or Carrier size

With history dating back from the Fourth Tiberium War, the Leviathan-class Carrier has always been remained as the capital command ship for the Brotherhood of Nod. Advances in technology now allow Leviathans to travel fully in space and even equipped with warp engines for warp space travel. In space, Leviathans can deploy up to 9 Sortie Drones, which are armed with laser guns that can make short work out of lightly armoured targets. Sortie Drones can be replaced by the Leviathan if destroyed during a battle. Hangars that hold and maintain Sortie Drones can also house Venoms, Cobras, Vertigos, Carryalls and other ground units during warp space travel or planetary invasion. In the atmosphere and on the ground, Leviathans can bombard surface targets with devastating Pyridium Firebomb turrets mounted at the bottom of the ships. These firebombs are strong and destructive enough to burn down entire bases in seconds.

Note: The Commander's flagship, _Jonah_, is a Leviathan.

* * *

The space battle over Mar Sara has been won by the Nod forces. The Mar Sara Insurrection is about to come to an end. Don't forget to R&R.


	8. Act 7: Dawn of the Scorpions

Thanks for all the reviews again! Sorry for the late update. I'll explain later.

To Lenzor Zvent: That's an interesting question. I've just played Starcraft 2 campaign and yes, there will be hybrids making their appearance in the game. As whether the hybrids are known to Kane and Nod, I can only answer that the Brotherhood of Nod, like most others in the Starcraft universe, will be oblivious to the existence of the hybrids. (But when I mention Brotherhood of Nod, I do not always mean Kane himself included.)

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 7: DAWN OF THE SCORPIONS**

(Back in Base 17 on Mar Sara...)

"BEEP... BEEP... BASE IS UNDER ATTACK... ..."

Colonel Richardson is getting worried. He has never expected that the insurgents would be audacious enough to not just defeat his forces, but also to take the fight to his very own front yard.

The Marines fortified in Bunkers are fighting off waves and waves of insurgent soldiers and vehicles trying to breach his base defences. Crucio Siege Tanks that are supposed to be sidelined for maintenance and servicing have been pulled out of Factories and are currently deployed into siege mode to bombard incoming insurgent waves. All remaining Hellions in the base have been sent out to hold off enemy assault, but none of them has returned ever since. The Banshees that have survived the battle in Dusty Rocks are still undergoing repairs and refuelling.

The defensive lines of Base 17 are made up of 3 sections; the outer line, inner line and in-base turrets. The outer line is comprised of Bunkers, Missile Turrets and Spider Mines. The inner line is comprised of Bunkers, Missile Turrets, deployed Crucio Siege Tanks and one Scanner Tower. Inside the base itself, there are Missile Turrets, Auto-turrets and 2 Scanner Towers scattered across. Currently, the outer line has been destroyed, and the insurgent forces are now trying to breach through the inner line.

Many times, the insurgents try to speed through with their Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes, only to fall victim to Marine fire originating from inside Bunkers. Sometimes, the insurgents try to sneak through the line through the underground by Reckoners. Fortunately for the Omega Squadron 17th Division defenders, Missile Turrets are capable of detecting the Reckoners' approach, and would alert and reveal the coordinates of the hidden Reckoners to the Siege Tanks. The results are Reckoners that are forced to surface prematurely and end up as scrap metal, or broken down when still underground. So far, the inner line is still doing well to keep the insurgent forces at bay.

While the defences at Base 17 are busy keeping the insurgents at bay, Colonel Richardson is still struggling to contact for help from the Omega Squadron fleet,

"Adjutant, try to connect me to _Odin's Fury_ again!"

"ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATION UPLINK TO _ODIN'S FURY_, PLEASE STANDBY... BEEP... BEEP... FAILED TO LOCATE _ODIN'S FURY_ IN MAR SARA ORBIT, UNABLE TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION UPLINK WITH _ODIN'S FURY_... ..."

"What? What do you mean failed to locate _Odin's Fury_?"

"THE SIGNATURE OF _ODIN'S FURY _HAS VANISHED FROM MY SCANNERS, INDICATING THAT _ODIN'S FURY_ HAS EITHER LEFT MAR SARA SYSTEM OR IS NO LONGER OPERATIONAL... ..."

"You're saying that HQ is gone? How about the other BCs? Are they still out there?"

"BEEP... BEEP... NEGATIVE! MY SCANS HAVE INDICATED THAT NON OF OUR BATTLECRUISERS ARE IN MAR SARA ORBIT... ..."

For the commander of Omega Squadron 17th Division, this is really bad indeed. Ever since the attack against his base had begun, he had been receiving emergency distress calls from other neighbouring bases as well, eliminating the possibility of receiving help from other divisions. With the disappearance of _Odin's Fury_ and the rest of the fleet, they will not be receiving any aid from the fleet. Regardless of who their enemies were, they must be very brilliant and cunning to plan out such massive scale of coordinated strikes against the Omega Squadron. Now the colonel is doubting whether they can defeat such opponents by themselves.

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM VIKING 99TH SQUADRON... ..."

"Bzzt... bzzzt... hello... anyone there on the ground... bzzzt... over... ..."

"This is Colonel Richardson from Omega Squadron 17th Division in Base 17, what's your status? Over!"

"This is Captain John Hunter from Viking 99th Squadron. All Battlecruisers including _Odin's Fury_ are gone... bzzt... bzzzt... most Vikings are gone as well... bzzzt... bzzzt... requesting clearance to base now!"

The distress call from Captain Hunter confirms Colonel Richardson's suspicion that the Omega Squadron fleet is not on Mar Sara orbit. The question is why. Perhaps he should ask Captain Hunter personally.

"Captain Hunter, you and your squadron mates are cleared to land in Base 17."

"Thank you colonel! We'll be coming right for you... bzzzt... oh shit, we got fighters behind us... bzzzt... spread out! Spread out! Spread... KABOOM... bzzt... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."

"Captain Hunter? Captain Hunter, do you copy?"

"bzzzt... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."

"BEEP... BEEP... WE LOST CONNECTION WITH CAPTAIN HUNTER, COMMANDER... "

"Dammit! What the heck is going on out there? Don't tell me those insurgents got a fleet of their own out there too?"

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE MARINES FORTIFIED IN THE INNER DEFENCE LINE... ..."

"Sir... huff... puff... you won't believe this... huff... puff... but the insurgents are retreating... ..."

"What? Is that true? Adjutant, can you confirm it?"

"AFFIRMATIVE! SCANS INDICATE THAT THE INSURGENT FORCES ARE NOW CURRENTLY CLEARING THE AREA... ..."

"So... those bastards have finally given up huh... strange... ..."

Colonel Richardson ponders. It is very weird for the insurgents, who are now winning this battle, to suddenly back off from the fight. True, that his inner defence line is successfully holding off their assault, but if the insurgents can continue to press on their attacks, they would eventually punch through the line. So why do the insurgents retreat before the moments of their assured victory?

One explanation may be that the insurgents have finally run out of steam, meaning that they are either losing too many men or they are running out of ammunitions. If this is the case, then this may be the breather Colonel Richardson needs to allow his forces to regroup and retreat to another system. What Richardson fears is the second possible explanation; the insurgents are planning something big, and they are clearing the area in order to avoid being part of collateral damage.

"Adjutant, can your scanners detect any hostiles flying into the area?" Richardson decides to ask, hoping that it is not the second possibility.

"NEGATIVE... MAY SCANS INDICATE PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE UNIDENTIFIED SHIPS IN THE ORBIT, BUT THERE IS NONE OF THEM APPROACHING OUR AREA... ..."

Colonel Richardson breathes a sigh of relief. Now he just needs to think how to evacuate his forces.

Unfortunately, his relief will not last long... ...

"BEEP... BEEP... WARNING! SCANNER SWEEPS HAVE DETECTED LARGE NUMBERS OF UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFTS APPROACHING BASE AT HIGH SPEED... ..."

"What! But you just said..."

"IT APPEARS THAT THE UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFTS ARE USING SOME FORM OF CLOAKING TECHNOLOGY SIMILAR TO THE ONE THAT IS APPLIED ON OUR BANSHEES... WARNING... WARNING... UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFTS APPROACHING BASE AT HIGH SPEED... ESTIMATING CONTACT IN 10 SECONDS... ..."

"So fast? Dammit! Adjutant, alert all units to prepare all anti-air defences!"

* * *

Sirens are sounding throughout the entire Base 17, as Marines that are supposedly to be serving as reserves gear up and frantically getting into their positions to defend their base from a possible airstrike. They have been warned that the enemy aircrafts are cloaked, so they have to rely mostly on the Missile Turrets to pinpoint the whereabouts of the enemy aircrafts, which can transmit the coordinates of the cloaked enemy aircrafts through their visors.

When the Marines start to hear the roaring engine noise coming out from a distance, they know that the enemies are near, and closing in. The Marines brace themselves, preparing to engage whatever things that are threatening to wipe them out. As the roar of aircraft engines sound louder and louder, the Marines begin to receive visual images transmitted from the Missile Turrets, which house advanced sensory equipment to detect cloaked units.

From the visuals transmitted by the Missile Turrets, the Marines can observe the appearance of the enemy aircrafts. They are quite big, around the size of Dropships. They have small and short noses, with broad and short bat-shaped wings and a pair of tail cannons at the rear.

All the Marines have never seen such aircrafts before. Nevertheless, they have to stop them.

The Missile Turrets are the first to react, in which they fire off their Longbolt anti-air missiles towards the cloaked aircrafts. The Marines decide to act too.

"We've got visual contact! All units, fire at will!"

The Marines frantically shoot into the skies, hoping to shoot down any of the cloaked aircrafts.

* * *

Some of the Longbolt missiles and C-14 Impaler spikes do hit them, damaging the aircrafts. The damaged aircrafts produce a ripple-like effect on their cloaked exterior airframe when they get hit. Some more heavily damaged ones start to sprout out smoke and flames from the engines. However, these aircrafts are not going to allow the Dominion forces to take the liberty to shoot them out of the skies without retaliation.

These are Vertigos, one of Nod's most feared stealth bombers in the history of Nod arsenal. These latest generations of stealth bombers are no longer just precision bombers, but carpet bombers. They are also equipped with the latest generation of stealth generators that can allow them to remain cloaked even when attacking, with the only drawback is that these generators need time to recharge and their effects will diminish if underpowered; quite similar to the cloaking device utilised by the Terran Dominion Banshees, except having much longer effects and duration.

As the Vertigos are just right above Base 17, their bomb bay doors begin to open. In split seconds, thousands of Groundpounder napalm bombs are dropped across the surface of Base 17.

The results are fiery. Base 17 is instantly pounded and incinerated by the Vertigo carpet bombing. Missile Turrets and many other structures are instantly burnt to the grounds as firestorms erupt from multiple overlaps of napalm. Siege Tanks and other unused vehicles are blown into bits, exploding into magnificent display of fireworks. Marines that are defending in the open are incinerated into ashes in seconds. Even those Marines hiding inside Bunkers do not last long, as the Bunkers are instantly burnt down as well, taking their inhabitants along. In just a single bombing run by a squadron of around 20 Vertigos, Base 17 has been burnt to the grounds, with all three sections of defences wiped out in seconds.

* * *

Colonel Richardson tries to stand up. The force of the carpet bombing has shaken his Command Centre so violently that he is thrown off from his seat. Smoke and fire is filling up the entire Command Centre, showing how severely damaged the structure is. Richardson leans himself against the wall as he slowly get to his feet. Other than a few a few bruises, he is quite alright.

"Adjutant, what's the current situation?" Richardson tries to assess the current status of his base.

"BEEP... BEEP... COMMANDER, WE HAVE SUFFERED MASSIVE LOSSES FROM THE ENEMY CARPET BOMBERS... ALL DEFENCES ARE DESTROYED... ALL SUPPLY DEPOTS AND REFINERIES ARE LOST... WE HAVE LOST THE ENGINEERING BAY AND THE ARMOURY... ALL BARRACKS ARE DESTROYED... ONE FACTORY AND ONE STARPORT ARE BOTH HEAVILY DAMAGED AND ARE ON THE BRINK OF DESTRUCTION, THE REST ARE DESTROYED ALONG WITH ALL ADD-ONS... OUR COMMAND CENTRE HAS SUFFERED CRITICAL DAMAGE WITH STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY CURRENTLY AT ONLY 4% AND STILL DECREASING... BASE REPAIR IS HEAVILY ADVISED... ..."

"How about our units?"

"ALL SCVS, MARINES AND HELLIONS HAVE BEEN WIPED OUT... ONLY 2 SIEGE TANKS ARE LEFT, DAMAGED BUT STILL OPERATIONAL... 4 MARAUDERS ARE STILL ACTIVE, BUT THEIR ARMOUR HAVE BEEN HEAVILY COMPROMISED... 6 BANSHEES REMAIN ACTIVE, BUT ONLY 3 OF THEM ARE FULLY REPAIRED AND REACTOR FULLY CHARGED, THE REST ARE STILL IN NEED FOR REPAIRS... ..."

"Get the reserve SCVs ready; order them to quickly repair the base so that we can retreat before those insurgents can send in another wave of attack. Hurry!"

"AFFIRMATIVE!"

* * *

(A few minutes later...)

A few SCVs that are initially stored inside the Command Centre are out in the now almost destroyed Base 17, busy repairing what has remained of the Omega Squadron 17th Division. Before the SCVs are ready, the Factory was eventually burnt to the ground, too severely damaged and beyond repair. Colonel Richardson looks out and assess the current strength of his division; 5 SCVs, 4 injured Marauders, 2 Crucio Siege Tanks and 6 Banshees. Structure wise, only the Command Centre and one Starport remains, and both are still undergoing repairs. Richardson plans to quickly repair both structures to the point that at least the two structures are stabilised and fire put out, before lifting off and quickly move to another safer location.

Unfortunately, it is going to be too late.

"BEEP... BEEP... WARNING! LARGE NUMBERS OF UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFTS APPROACHING AT HIGH SPEED... SCANNER SWEEP INDICATES THAT THE COMPOSITION OF THIS WAVE OF AIRCRAFTS CONSIST OF AT LEAST 3 DIFFERENT TYPES: SMALL AND LIGHT FIGHTERS, MEDIUM GUNSHIPS THAT ARE ALSO EQUIPPED WITH A FORM OF CLOAKING DEVICE, AND UNARMED CLOAKED TRANSPORT SHIPS... ..."

"Shit! Adjutant, get all SCVs into the Command Centre right now! All units, get out of the area! I'll update you all with the new rally point later. Now go! Go! GO!"

Immediately after receiving the orders, all the SCVs immediately rush into the Command Centre, which lifts off alongside with the Starport. Both structures are still heavily damaged, but at least they are stabilised and no longer on fire. The 2 remaining Siege Tanks unpack into tank mode and about to move off. The Marauders are making a run out of the base grounds. The Banshees have all switched on their cloaking field and are moving out.

* * *

Just before the remnants of the Omega Squadron 17th Division can make their retreat, a swarm of more than 30 Venoms swoop upon the stricken division from the stratosphere like a swarm of angry bees. Rockets rained upon the Banshees, striking and taking them down like flies struck by fly-swatter. Despite the best efforts taken by the Banshees to stay hidden by cloaking, the Venoms easily have them in their sight through the aid of advanced sensors. In less than a minute, all Banshees have crashed onto the ground, destroyed.

The Siege Tanks have just finished packing up into tank mode when they are suddenly attacked by something. Shells are raining upon the tanks, but the tanks cannot find their attackers. Before they know it, they have been reduced into scrap metal. In the sky, one of attackers reveal itself as its cloaking device runs out of energy; it looks like a Venom but its slightly bigger and longer, and is armed with a nose mounted 90mm cannon instead of rocket pods; it is a Cobra stealth gunship.

The 4 injured Marauders try to run away from the Nod aircrafts, only to be intercepted by approaching Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes. One of the frag grenade round hits and kills one of the Marauder. With no hope of outrunning these fast vehicles, the remaining 3 Marauders decide to stand their ground and fight back. Despite their injuries, the Marauders activate their Stimpacks. Punisher concussion grenades are shot towards the Nod speedy vehicles, destroying one Raider in the process. Unable to withstand the onslaught of stimmed Marauders, the Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes decide to make a hasty retreat.

Before the Marauders can take the opportunity to run away, 4 men drop down from nowhere right in front of their paths. The Marauders size up their new opponents; they are heavily armoured infantries, almost as armoured if not even heavier. They are adorned in a large, heavy silver and red power suit with a power core at the chest. Their helmets cover up the entire face, bearing a narrow, red-cross shaped visor. Their right arms are mounted with large cannons that cover up their entire arm, and left arms ended with another sort of cannon. The new opponents stand almost as tall, if not taller than them.

Unknown to the Marauders, these are not just ordinary heavy infantries. They are the Enlightened cyborgs, dropped onto the battlefield by a cloaked Carryall. These Enlightened are the anti-armour shock infantries, designed to face off tanks and other heavy units of hostile forces such as these Marauders.

Although slightly intimidated initially, the 3 Marauders immediately get back to their fighting mentality and start shooting their Punisher concussion grenades at the Enlightened. The aggressive focus fire of the "stimmed" Marauders blast the legs of one of the Enlightened, spewing out sparks and circuitry from the downed cyborg. The other 3 Enlightened, however, are completely not intimidated by the loss of a comrade, and immediately shoots back at the Marauders with their arm mounted Centurion 70mm cannon, tearing apart the chest of one of the Marauder, spewing his insides out. Then, to the shock of the other 2 Marauders, the previously downed Enlightened begins to crawl towards them using only his arm despite the loss of both legs. Before they can react, the legless Enlightened pounce onto one of the surviving Marauders, self-destructing and taking the Marauder out along with a big explosion. The explosion also knocks the lone surviving Marauder off onto the ground, who becomes into a sitting duck as the other 3 Enlightened blasts him into pieces of steel and human flesh with their cannons.

* * *

(Inside the now lifted-off Command Centre of Base 17...)

Colonel Richardson can only watch helpless from the windows of his lifted-off Command Centre as his last remaining combat units get picked off and annihilated by Nod troops. Soon, he realises that he himself is in serious trouble as well.

"BEEP... BEEP... BASE IS UNDER ATTACK..."

The adjutant warns as the Richardson can feel a series of heavy jolts vibrating across the entire Command Centre. He looks out through the windows and discovers that the enemy fighters are now targeting both his Command Centre and the lifted-off Starport.

A few seconds later, the commander of Omega Squadron 17th Division sees the Starport exploding in a magnificent display of fireworks in the air as multiple rocket fire from the Venoms shoot down the lifted-off structure.

Another few seconds later, another series of jolts, this time even worse than the previous ones, shake across the entire Command Centre. Explosions occur, with smoke and fire begin to fill up the corridors and command room.

"Adjutant, try to contact any closest Dominion squadron from anywhere. Call for help, now!"

Unfortunately, there is no response from the adjutant this time, because the robotic adjutant of this Command Centre has been taken out offline by the explosions.

Then, another series of explosions rock the command room, pushing back Colonel Richardson and knocking him out unconscious with a heavy thud onto the steel floor.

The Command Centre is now on fire and almost on the brink of destruction. Just then, a few more Venoms fire their rockets at the Atlas lift-off engines of the Command Centre, blowing the engines off. Without the engines running, the burning airborne structure falls and crushes onto the ground below, going off with an enormous explosion, killing everyone inside. Omega Squadron 17th Division is now officially eradicated.

* * *

(Mar Sara City, at the Mar Sara Magistrate Building...)

The Magistrate Building is currently under siege, attacked by insurgent forces arising from all corners of the capital city of Mar Sara.

Inside the Magistrate Building, Lieutenant Colonel Drake Harson is taking charge of commanding the Mar Sara Colonial Militia in defending the Magistrate Building. This white haired, bearded old man is a senior officer who has known Tray Randall, Marshal of Mar Sara colony, ever since the latter's enlistment into the Dominion Officer Academy. Harson had been like a mentor to the young aspiring officer, hence when Randall was assigned as the new Marshal of Mar Sara, Drake was selected by the young marshal as his second-in-command. When Tray went off to investigate the case of missing artifacts, Drake was assigned to take charge of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia during his period of absence.

The old officer is trying his best to coordinate his militias for the defence of the Magistrate Building. Currently, he is trying to call for reinforcements from other local militia forces to support his troops. With the loss of contact with _Odin's Fury_ and the rest of the Omega Squadron, the old and experience officer knows that it is most likely that the Omega Squadron has been defeated, or worse annihilated. Judging by the scale of this insurrection, it is not impossible for the entire population of colonists to rebel against the Dominion and overwhelm a single Dominion squadron, even if it is one of the best.

So far, his defences are successfully holding off waves of insurgent infantries and light vehicles. Marines and Marauders are garrisoning inside Bunkers that guard the Magistrate Building; Sensor Towers give the Mar Sara Colonial Militia forces early warning of enemy assault; Missile Turrets are shooting down light fighters of unknown models and detecting enemy subterranean approach; and a few Crucio Siege Tanks have deployed into Siege mode in order to pound the incoming insurgents from afar. Although all seem to be well right now, Drake wonders how long will it take for the defences to hold.

Minutes earlier, scattered troops of Mar Sara Colonial Militia across Mar Sara had reported a number of massive carpet bombing runs across almost the entire planet surface by unknown cloaked bombers of never before seen models. Strangely, the bombers did not arrive to bomb Mar Sara City at all. Drake knows that if the enemy sends in another bombing run such as those reported by his militias, they would be instantly eradicated in a breeze. So why does the enemy not bomb them to the grounds now?

'This is strange, why do the insurgents not bomb us right now? They would have immediately won if they have done so... ...' Drake is still wondering when suddenly, he receives alerts from the adjutant of a new wave of enemy approach,

"BEEP... BEEP... WARNING... CLOAKED ENEMY AIRCRAFTS DETECTED... TARGETS IDENTIFIED AS UNKNOWN MODELS OF A TRANSPORT CLASS... ..."

'Enemy transport ships approaching? This means that the insurgents are trying to take control of the city with ground troops without flattening the city. But why must they want to do that? Why not just bomb us with carpet bombing like what they did to the Omega Squadron? Unless... ...'

Drake's thoughts are interrupted when the adjutant gives out another warning,

"ALERT... LARGE AMOUNTS OF ENEMY GROUND TROOPS ARE DETECTED BOARDING OFF FROM THE ENEMY TRANSPORTS... I'VE PICKED UP MASSIVE NUMBERS OF ENEMY GROUND TROOPS APPROACHING TOWARDS THE MAGISTRATE BUILDING... ..."

'That's right! Those insurgents want something from the Magistrate Building, something like a couple of top-secret files of some sorts! That's why they are not bombing us, because they don't want to flatten the building!'

After the revelation, Drake immediately orders the defenders of the Magistrate Building to further toughen up the defences. SCVs are deployed to repair the defensive structures on site. Most importantly, all officers are now busy gathering up all top-secret files and other important documents stored in the building.

* * *

(A few minutes later...)

"BEEP... BEEP... COMMANDER, I'VE JUST RECEIVED AN INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM RIKSVILLE... SENDER SIGNATURE MATCHES TO THOSE OF MARSHAL TRAY RANDALL... ..."

While the officers in the Magistrate Building are busy gathering up important documents, they are completely taken by surprise by the new message received by the adjutant. After Tray was declared MIA by the Omega Squadron, many officers except for Drake and a few believed that their respected young marshal was either held up or captured by insurgents or worse, killed. This message could mean that Marshal Tray Randall may be still alive; too important not to miss.

"Adjutant, play that message!" Drake orders the adjutant.

"AFFIRMATIVE, PLAYING NEW MESSAGE: _Attention! This is Tray Randall speaking to the Mar Sara Colonial Militia. Any units listening to this message, I want you to immediately withdraw and regroup at either Riksville or Backwater Station. I repeat, regroup at either Riksville or Backwater Station. Watch out for the insurgents and make sure none of them have followed you during your retreat. I've sent down the Mars Air Squadron to cover you boys escape as much as possible, just report your location and they will be there. Good luck guys! Randall out!_"

To the officers that have heard the message, they are overjoyed that their beloved marshal is still alive, and is trying to contact them. The voice in the message is no doubt their leader's one, they have heard those voices since day one.

"Sir, wait! What if this is a trap set by the enemies?" one of the junior officers points out.

Drake ponders for a moment. The junior officer may be right; maybe it is a trap set by the insurgents, by fabricating this false message using Tray's voice and luring them to the two locations so that the insurgents can wipe out all of them in one swoop. However, in the message, Mars Air Squadron has been mentioned. The Mars Air Squadron is a secret elite Wraith squadron stationed in Mar Sara and commanded by the marshal of Mar Sara himself, and it is quite unlikely that the insurgent forces know the existence of this secret squadron at all. It may be possible that the insurgents learn its existence by holding up the young marshal, but there is still a chance that the message is genuine. Finally, Drake make his decision,

"Adjutant, reply to our sender this message: this is Lieutenant Colonel Drake Harson speaking from the Mar Sara Magistrate Building in Mar Sara City; we have received your message and we need the Mars Air Squadron to cover our retreat; Harson over and out!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, REPLYING NEW MESSAGE... ..."

"But sir, what if it's a trap?" the same junior officer asks again.

"Then we'll have to risk it! It's our only chance to get out of this hell hole right now! The Omega Squadron is already gone, so there is no need for us to follow their orders anymore! If we continue to stay down here, we'll be overwhelmed for sure! If we retreat and regroup at those assigned locations, there may still be a slim chance that we can live and fight for another day! Any further objections to my decisions?"

"Er... no sir!"

"BEEP... BEEP... MESSAGE REPLIED SUCCESSFULLY TO RIKSVILLE... ALERT, RECEIVING INCOMING REPLY MESSAGE FROM RIKSVILLE: _Old Harson? Hah! I know that you guys will make it! Yeah, I've just received your call and I've ordered the Mars flyboys to head towards your direction. Meantime, I want you guys to start packing up and prepare to leave with every essential office documents brought along, we cannot risk losing any sensitive materials to the insurgents. It will take some time before the rescues can arrive, so try to hold off the insurgents as long as possible. Don't worry about me, I'm fine, and I've just found myself some powerful allies. You won't guess who will they be. Anyway, my new allies will also be heading your way and picking you guys up. Good luck to you all! Randall out!_"

All the officers just listen to the new message, dumbfounded. This time, it should be no question that whether the message is genuine or not.

"Any questions, gentlemen?" Drake asks his men. All of them are now shaking their heads.

"Good! Then what are you waiting for? Gather up all our essential documents and prepare to load them into our Dropships! You there, don't just stand there, get moving! And you there, inform the defenders to continue to hold off the insurgents while the others to start boarding the Dropships! Hurry up! Double time!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

(Outside the Magistrate Building...)

Orders of evacuation and retreat have been passed down to the entire unit. Quantradyne APOD-33 Dropships have begun loading up troops and documents for the evacuation. Marines, Marauders and Siege Tanks at the defences are working extra hard to keep the insurgents out.

Just a few minutes ago, they have received both a good news and a bad news. The good news is that it is confirmed that Marshal Randall is still alive, and has already sent aid to them and prepared to reunite with them with new allies at Riksville. The bad news is that they have been warned that the Omega Squadron has fallen, and the insurgents have received reinforcements from the skies, dropped in by cloaked transports of some sorts, and they are heading towards their directions.

Soon enough, as the defenders are shooting at the waves of incoming Militants, Devouts, Marines, Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes, Goliaths and Reckoners, they begin to see some other units that they have never seen before.

Accompanying the Devouts are some type of heavy infantry dressed in armour suits that are comparable or even heavier than the Marauders' CMC-660 armour. These heavy infantry have a massive cannon attached to their right arm, and a special weapon of some sort attached to their left arm. At a closer look, these infantries look more machine than men. Unknown to these defenders, those are not just any ordinary heavy infantry; they are the Enlightened cyborgs.

The Marines and Marauders inside Bunkers begin to fire at the newly arrived Enlightened. When the Enlightened get under fire, their devices on their left arm begin to undergo a transformation, changing from a form of cannon to an energy shield. Together with their right arm-mounted cannon, the Enlightened resemble a futuristic hoplite in this form.

With their energy shields deployed, rounds from the Marines and Marauders can only just pound onto the surface of the shields without harming the Enlightened, which proceed to fire back with their Centurion 70mm cannons. Cannon shells pound onto the Bunker walls, threatening to destroy the defensive structures. Just then, Crucio Siege Tanks in Siege mode begin to turn their turrets and aim at the Enlightened. 120mm plasma shock cannons pound hard onto the Enlightened, seemingly shutting down their shields temporarily. The temporary shut-down of energy shields, however, is the moment that the garrisoned Marines and Marauders need to shoot and hit the Enlightened with their concentrated fire. The coordinated attacks by the defenders work very well in taking out the Enlightened. Despite the Enlightened tenacious will to keep on fighting even after losing their legs, they are unable to reach the defenders and self-destruct in time as they fall victim to the Punisher concussion grenades of the Marauders.

"BEEP... BEEP... ALERT! LARGE NUMBER OF ENEMY VEHICLES ARE NOW APPROACHING AT HIGH SPEED... ..."

A warning from the adjutant comes to the defenders as they see large cloud of dust approaching towards their locations, a signal of a large number of vehicles.

True to the warning, a large number of Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes and Goliaths try to overwhelm their positions. These, however, are easily taken care of by the Siege Tanks. Even those that manage to survive Siege Tank bombardment would only fall victim to Punisher concussion grenades later.

While the defenders are busy piling up heaps of wreckages in front of the base defences, another warning sounds out from the adjutant,

"BEEP... BEEP... ALERT! BURROWING UNITS DETECTED... ..."

Missile Turrets have detected approach of subterranean units, and passed on their moving coordinates to the defenders. Immediately, the defenders open fire onto the ground, hoping to destroy them before they can resurface. They do successfully destroy some of the subterranean units underground, but fail to stop them from reaching to the front of the defences, where they immediately resurface.

The subterranean troops reveal to be made up of two kinds. One has been seen before earlier and has been identified as a transport and mobile bunker which has a drill tip in front; another one, however, is never before seen again. The second type of burrowing vehicle can only described in one word: scorpion. It is a black and red threaded vehicle that is shaped entirely like a scorpion, complete with a pair of pincers and an erect tail.

As the enemy subterranean vehicles surface, the infantries inside Reckoners begin to fire back at the Bunkers; while the "tail" of the scorpion-shaped vehicle begins to glow red, before firing a laser beam at the Siege Tanks. The results are some Bunkers and Siege Tanks destroyed, with Marines and Marauders forced out of the former. With the enemy units so close next to them, the Siege Tanks have to undeploy themselves into tank mode to better fight against the enemy vehicles at close range. However, some of the Siege Tanks do not get the chance, as the scorpion-shaped vehicles begin to attach themselves to them using their "pincers", which seem to be generating some kind of electromagnetic waves to lock down the Siege Tanks while grasping them. For the Siege Tanks that are "grasped", the grasping scorpion-shaped vehicles begin to slowly tear them apart using their "tail" lasers.

As a result, many defenders have been destroyed by this wave of attackers, but eventually the defenders manage to edge out in this close range combat. However, there will not be enough time for a breather for the defenders, as the adjutant warns another incoming wave of enemy vehicles,

"BEEP... BEEP... ALERT! LARGE NUMBER OF ENEMY VEHICLES ARE NOW APPROACHING, ENEMY ARCLITE CLASS SIEGE TANKS DETECTED... ..."

This time, there will be enemy Siege Tanks approaching, Arclite class to be exact. Although Arclite Siege Tanks are weaker in direct open tank to tank combat than the newer Crucio Siege Tanks, their firepower in siege mode are still as devastating as those of their successors. After hearing this news, the defending Crucio Siege Tanks immediately deploy themselves back into siege mode in order to combat the enemy Siege Tanks from afar.

As the Siege Tanks are deploying, more enemy vehicles, including the scorpion-shaped ones are approaching and firing at them. More defenders are lost in this attack, but the deployed Crucio Siege Tanks quickly rain plasma shells onto the enemy vehicles, creating more wreckages. Enemy Arclites begin to return fire, prompting the Crucios to shoot back from afar.

"BEEP... BEEP... ALERT! ENEMY AIRCRAFTS DETECTED APPROACHING AT HIGH SPEED... ALERT! CLOAKED GUNSHIPS DETECTED... ..."

The defenders begin to look up into the skies. Missile Turrets have begun launching Longbolt missiles into the air. Enemy Venoms are swooping in onto the defenders, raining down rockets. Many of the Venoms have been decimated by Longbolt missiles or C-14 Impaler spikes, but their rockets have successfully caused heavy damage to the defenders. Then, the Cobras begin to arrive, cloaked, and raining shells upon the defenders, destroying a large number of defending Siege Tanks. Although some of the Cobras get shot down by the Missile Turrets, it does not stop the remaining Cobras from resuming their shelling onto the defenders' positions. As the Cobra shelling continues, some of the Venoms fly past the defensive lines, and heading straight towards the Dropships and other retreating units back at the Magistrate Building.

"Shit! This is Sergeant Nasri reporting from defence line to base! We've got a number of enemy fighters inbound to your locations and we're taking heavy losses at the defence lines! We can't hold on much longer!" the lead Marine in the defensive lines report.

* * *

(At the Magistrate Building site...)

Office workers and officers, as well as soldiers of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia, are still busy loading up themselves onto their Dropships when they hear warning sirens of an incoming air raid. As they look up into the skies, they can see Venom fighters rushing in at full speed, raining rockets upon them. Explosions rock across the Magistrate Building site, as people are thrown into the air or worse, blown into bloody pieces. Marines facilitating the evacuation quickly fire into the air at the Venoms. Although a few Venoms get their engines blown off as a result of Marine retaliatory fire, most are too fast and too agile to be shot down by assault rifles easily.

The Venoms make one strafing round across the Magistrate Building site, firing out rockets. Then, they make a U-turn back towards the site again, this time raining rockets upon the parking Dropships. The results are some Dropships blowing up into fireballs and scrap metal, killing almost everyone that are already inside or preparing to board them. A few other Dropships are still operational, but it will be a matter of time before the Venoms will return for another strafing round to finish them off.

Just when it seems all hope will be lost, suddenly, another distinct sound of fighter engine approaches; this time they sound familiar to Mar Sara population. Then, in a blink of an eye, one of the strafing Venoms burst into flames, as a pair of missiles comes out of nowhere slamming into the unfortunate little fighter. The remaining Venoms, as if sensing something that the Mar Sara Colonial Militia on the ground does not see, begin to break their formations and start firing off rockets into the air. The rockets miss their targets, but manage to force their mystery attackers to de-cloak and reveal themselves: Wraiths.

"Alright! It's the Mars flyboys! We're saved!"

The crowd at the Magistrate Building site cheers on as the Mars Air Squadron, an elite Wraith fighter squadron based in Mar Sara, begin to engage with the Venoms in a dazzling display of aerial dogfights above the Magistrate Building. Rockets and Gemini missiles fly around in all directions, either missing or hitting their intended targets.

Unlike the previous similar conflict between Vikings and Venoms month earlier above the Mar Sara orbit, this time the numbers are quite even on both sides. Without the superiority in quantity, the weakness of the lack of armour and protection in Venoms begin to take its toll. The Venoms are easily shattered by the Gemini missiles of the Wraiths, while it takes much more hits from the rockets to down a Wraith.

The crowd cheers on as the Wraiths are clearly winning against the Venoms. In just a few minutes, the dogfight is over; with the Mars Air Squadron emerging victorious.

* * *

(Inside the Magistrate Building...)

Lieutenant Colonel Drake Harson has watched the entire dogfight through the windows of his office. He breathes out a sigh of relief when the outcome of the battle has been revealed. It is a close call indeed, but Drake knows that they have little time left to celebrate; there are still thousands of enemy troops out there and they may return anytime. Just then, he receives another call from the adjutant,

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING MESSAGE FROM MARSHAL TRAY RANDALL: _Hey guys! Are you all still out there? Me and my allies are almost getting to your positions, but it will take another 5 more minutes for us to get there. Trust me, we've tried to get there as fast as we could, but with all those enemy fighters buzzing around everywhere and our Mars flyboys split out to help everyone else, this is the fastest we can get. Just hang on, we'll be there right in a jiffy! Randall out!_"

"BEEP... BEEP... RECEIVING INCOMING MESSAGE FROM THE DEFENCE LINE: _Sir! This is Sergeant Nasri reporting from the defence line! There's too much of them, we can't hold them off much longer! Request permission to retreat!_"

"Permission denied! Rescue will be here in just 5 minutes. Just hold on a little bit longer! I'll send in a few more Marines to your location. I'll be also calling the Mars Air Squadron to help you out..."

"_Er... sir? Wait for a sec... yah I see the Wraiths coming in... BOOOOM... yeah they've taken out those gunships! And now they're heading for the enemy tanks... _"

"Glad to know that you're alright for a time being, now just hold for another few more minutes, we're gonna get you out there soon... ..."

"BEEP... BEEP... WARNING! LARGE NUMBERS OF HOSTILES INBOUND!"

"_Sir! We got a large number of enemy units inbound to our location! They're trying to charge right in!"_

"Stop them at all costs! We need to buy ourselves more time! I'm sending in additional Marines and Marauders down!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

(Almost 5 minutes later...)

For the defenders holding out at the defensive line of the Magistrate Building, 5 minutes are more like 5 hours.

For the gruelling 5 minutes, they have held off hundreds of Militants, Devouts, Marines, Enlightened, Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes, Goliaths, Reckoners, Arclite Siege Tanks, scorpion-shaped tanks, Venoms and Cobras. However, they themselves have also lost almost ¾ of their entire force, which includes Mars Air Squadron and the Marine and Marauder reinforcement that have arrived a minute after the request for retreat has been denied. Worse still, the number of attacking insurgent forces do not seem to dwindle much, instead they just keep coming. In other words, the defenders cannot hold out much longer.

The scorpion-shaped tanks, Nod Scorpion Tanks to be exact, are continuously advancing towards their position, firing off their tail laser cannons on their way. These unique tanks have been responsible for taking out most of the Bunkers and Missile Turrets with their long range laser cannons. Deployed Arclite Siege Tanks also contribute in the destruction of Bunkers and turrets. Wraiths of the Mars Air Squadron are having a hard time fighting off the Venoms and Cobras when the insurgent ground forces such as Attack Bikes are also shooting at them from the ground. All the Crucio Siege Tanks have been destroyed by now. The defenders are gradually losing their ground.

"Darn! We can't hold out much longer!"

Just then, sounds of more approaching Wraiths can be heard; and within a few seconds, a barrage of burst laser rain upon the insurgents, blowing almost everything in its path. Venoms and Cobras are shot down into balls of fire as Gemini missiles slam into their airframe. The saviours of the defenders de-cloak as they reveal themselves as the dust settles, turning out to be more Wraiths of the Mars Air Squadron.

And they are not alone... ...

Dropships immediately arrive after the Wraiths clear the insurgents around the area, preparing to pick up the survivors.

Realising that they have been saved at last, the defenders roar in joy and relief.

* * *

(Meanwhile, at the Magistrate Building site...)

More Dropships arrive at the Magistrate Building site, escorted by Wraiths. Workers, officers and guards of the Mar Sara Magistrate Building begin to board the Dropships.

Drake Harson and a few others are preparing to board the last Dropship. The hatch of the last Dropship opens up, revealing Tray Randall.

"Lieutenant Colonel Harson reporting to Marshal Randall; all personnel have been accounted for; all of the important office documents have been removed from the building; we're ready to go, sir!"

"At ease, Drake. I know it's been hard on you for these few days, old man, but I must say; you've done well! I knew you could get the job done when I was gone! It's good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, sir..."

"Alright, no time to lose! We've seen an even larger number of enemy forces approaching while we're on our way here! I recommend everyone to quickly board this shuttle that my ally gladly lends! The last thing we want is to become part of the casualties of this insurrection! Now move, move! Double time!"

"Yes sir... oh yeah, just one question, sir; are you planning to follow the footsteps of your predecessor?"

Drake asks, pointing to the symbol pasted on the Dropship; the symbol of Raynor's Raiders.

"I'll explain everything while we get to Riksville, Drake, now let's move out!"

After the last batch of passengers enter the last Dropship, all the Dropships and Wraiths immediately move off from the site, intending to avoid waiting over there and get overwhelmed by the next wave of attacking insurgents.

* * *

(Minutes later...)

The Nod forces have finally arrived at the Magistrate Building. However, it is already too late for them.

Hundreds of brave militants and Nod soldiers have lost their lives, trying to breach the defensive line guarding the Magistrate Building. By the time when they have finally reached the site, the Mar Sara Colonial Militia have already evacuated, most likely with their top-secret documents as well.

Throughout Mar Sara, similar battles have taken place across the entire planet. Casualties have reached millions, but the good news is that Dominion influence on the planet is virtually non-existence. The Omega Squadron has been confirmed to be annihilated, with all their ships and bases destroyed. There are reports of scattered number of Mar Sara Colonial Militia personnel escaping with the help of some mercenary force, which include the ones guarding the Magistrate Building.

Even though the loss of lives is tremendous and there are enemies still out there, it is considered to be a glorious victory for the insurgents and the Brotherhood of Nod.

Now, as the Militants, Rocket Militants, Marines and Devouts cheer on at the Magistrate Building site, a pair of Confessors arrive the scene as they exit a Reckoner. The Confessors lower down the Mar Sara Colony flag and the Dominion flag, tossing them to the crowd for them to brutalise and vent their frustrations on. To represent this symbolic victory, the Confessors hoist up a new flag in front of the Magistrate Building; a red flag with a black and red hexagon and a scorpion tail within.

The flag of the Brotherhood of Nod is raised on Mar Sara soil.

* * *

(On board of _Jonah_, above Mar Sara orbit...)

"COMMANDER, OMEGA SQUADRON HAS BEEN CONFIRMED ANNIHILATED FROM THIS PLANET; THE MAR SARA MAGISTRATE BUILDING HAS BEEN SECURED; PRIMARY OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

The Commander looks into the command interface, before replying,

"Good, then it's time to deploy the MCVs and start building up our bases on this planet. Order the troops to distribute food, water, medicine and Tiberium infusion serum to the colonists. Also tell them to try to recruit as many colonists as possible into our army."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM KANE, STANDBY... ..."

A hologram projection lights up, showing the figure of Kane.

"Ahhh... Commander, I know that you will not disappoint me with your skills. I presume that you have conquered Mar Sara?"

"Yes sir! Mar Sara is now under your command as you wish! Though I have to point out, sir, that there may be some resistance forces still out there."

"Remnants of the Omega Squadron?"

"No sir! It's the Mar Sara Colonial Militia! Field reports indicate that they have received aid from an unknown source, and manage to escape before our forces can wipe them out. I apologise for my failure sir!"

"Never mind about the local militia, my child. With our forces establishing a foothold on this planet and with the colonists support on our side, the local militia would not pose much of a threat to our plans. Still, it is safer to weed out as much resistance as possible. Commander, I want you to send out scouts to find the escaped enemies and whoever that is helping them. Find them and kill them! Make sure there is no survivors!"

"Yes sir!"

"On the meantime, I want you to send troops to these two locations, both on this planet. The Jacobs Installation was used to be a secret Confederate military and research installation; inside, it holds the database of a number of Confederate weaponry, including the designs for the Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter; find it and use LEGION to download it. Close to the Backwater Station, there is a dig site where the Dominion is trying to uncover an ancient artefact of incredible power; that artefact will be essential for our backup plan; find it and acquire it!"

"Yes sir! I won't disappoint you next time, sir!"

"I hope you won't, my child, I will always have faith with you."

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Propaganda

Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod are finally going to make their presence known throughout the entire Koprulu Sector. Tray explains how he ends up with the Raynor's Raiders, and expresses his thoughts about the insurrection on his home planet.

* * *

My Nod Arsenal: Stealth Technology

The Stealth technology employed by the Brotherhood of Nod, has reached towards new limits since their development more than 4 centuries ago. Through centuries of intense research and some acquiring of stolen data files from the Confederacy, Nod engineers are able to create improved stealth generators that are much more energy efficient compared to the ones used by the cloaking device of Ghosts, Wraiths and Banshees. The new stealth generators are able to last much longer than their predecessors without exhausting too much power, and they have enhanced durability so that they will not malfunction and create ripple effects when the user takes in too much damage. If placed on non-combat units such as Carryall and Harvesters, the effect is almost permanent. If placed on combat units such as Cobras, Vertigos, Stealth Tanks or Shadows, the stealth generator would take some time to charge due to power being distributed to the weapons systems as well. However, once fully charged, a cloaked combat unit can move and even attack while still cloaked, a big difference to the past when stealth units have to de-cloak in order to attack, making them a vulnerable target. The effect can go on as long as there is enough energy to power both weapons system and the stealth generator.

Beside the regular stealth generator, Nod engineers have also developed some more advanced variants of stealth generator that are capable of evading detection from even the advanced scanners of Terran Missile Turrets and Orbital Command Centre. However, these stealth generators are few and hard to build, making them precious assets that can only be used in some important covert missions, such as the smuggling of weapons and personnel to Mar Sara before the insurrection.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Vertigo

Role: Atmospheric stealth carpet bomber

Armament: Payload of Groundpounder napalm bombs, Dual air to air Spitfire laser cannons, Stealth generator

Appearance: Similar to the C&C3 Vertigo, but slightly bigger in size, around the size of a Dropship.

When plans to create the newest generation of Vertigo begin, it is decided by the Inner Circle to build the newest Vertigo from the designs of the original one in the Third Tiberium War. The Vertigo of the Fourth Tiberium War maybe cheaper and more durable, it lacks the famed stealth generator unless upgraded with it. It also lacks anti-air capability which the first models are equipped with. Most importantly, when the Brotherhood ascends to the Koprulu Sector, they need an aircraft that must be easier to store in the tight-spaced underground vaults, and the broad, swept wing versions certainly did not match the requirements. The new Vertigos resemble the broad, bat-winged versions of the Third Tiberium War, complete with a pair of rear air to air Spitfire laser cannons, and houses a stealth generator by default. Other than its appearance, the new Vertigo is bigger and can carry more payload, turning the stealth bomber from a precision strike bomber to a carpet bomber. Multiple Vertigos can drop napalm bombs on a single area to create a devastating firestorm, which can be made more powerful with purifying flames upgrade.

My Nod Unit Profile: Cobra

Role: Stealth anti-surface gunship

Armament: 90mm cannon, Stealth generator

Appearance: Looks like a mix between C&C4 Cobra and C&C3 Venom, but slightly longer and bigger.

While Vertigos conduct surface carpet bombing to wipe out large number of enemies in an area, Cobras are in charge of precision strikes against surface targets, preferably slow moving tanks such as Dominion Crucio Siege Tanks or Marauder heavy infantries. Like Vertigos, Cobras are equipped with a Stealth generator by default, enabling them to strike at their targets while cloaked. However, unlike Vertigos, Cobras lack anti-air defence, and have to be escorted with Venoms if their stealth generator runs out of energy. The cannons of Cobras can be upgraded with Tiberium-tipped shells so that the shells of Cobra can weaken the armour of its victims.

My Nod Unit Profile: Enlightened

Role: Anti-armour heavy infantry

Armament: 70mm Centurion cannon, Light EMP cannon (can be converted to energy shield generator when upgraded), Tiberium chest power core

Appearance: Looks like a mix between Kane's Wrath Enlightened and C&C4 Enlightened. Armour is silver and red in colouration and is slightly heavier than the CMC-660 armour suit used by the new Firebats and Marauders.

The heavy anti-armour shock infantries of the Brotherhood, the Enlightened cyborgs are armed with quick-firing 70mm Centurion cannon on their right arm, designed for tearing armoured targets such as tanks and Marauders apart with ease. To make their job easier, Enlightened cyborgs have EMP cannon attached to their left arm, which can unpower energy source and disable mechanical units in a small area. When upgraded, Enlightened can convert their EMP cannon into an energy shield generator when needed, which can absorb damages applied to the Enlightened until it runs out. Even if it sustains serious damage and has its legs lost, Enlightened can continue to fight and sacrifice itself by crawling towards its intended target using only its arm, overloading its Tiberium power core and taking out its adversary along with itself in a bang.

My Nod Unit Profile: Scorpion Tank

Role: Subterranean anti-armour main battle tank

Armament: Tail laser cannon, Pincer claws

Armament: Similar to the C&C4 Scorpion Tanks

Ever since the ascension of the Brotherhood of Nod since the Fourth Tiberium War, the iconic and successful Scorpion Tank of the Fourth war remains almost unchanged throughout the years. Through centuries of improvement, though, the newest generation of Scorpion Tanks is now capable of firing its Tail laser cannon while on the move, even towards aerial targets. Its "claws" are also improved for durability so that like its predecessors, it will be able to grasp and disable an enemy mechanical unit with its EMP "claws", while it slowly tears the grasped enemy apart with its laser. Although it can do the same to biological or psionic unit, it cannot shut them down, meaning that the victim may still fight back or even drag the Scorpion Tank with it along if it is bigger than the Scorpion Tank, such as a Zerg Ultralisk. By applying the mechanisms of burrowing zergs, the "claws" of Scorpion Tanks can also produce billions of tiny vibrations that soften up the soil, enabling it burrow without the use of drills.

* * *

There are 2 reasons why the late update:

(1) My new university curriculum is starting

(2) Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty is finally out

Due to the 2 above reasons, updates will be much slower for now. But I'm not giving up this story yet. I'll be updating it as fast as I can. Don't forget to review!


	9. Act 8: Propaganda

Well, somehow I manage to finish this one faster than I thought, so here goes.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 8: PROPAGANDA**

(The next day, at Joeray's Bar, Riksville, Mar Sara...)

"_This is Donny Vermillion live from UNN studios... _"

All eyes in the tiny Joeray's Bar are fixed on the only TV screen, which was just recently fixed from the bullet hole put by the infamous outlaw, Jim Raynor.

For some, the UNN news are all the same stuff everyday; seeing the moustached lead anchorman Donny Vermillion, obviously a Mengsk supporter, reading out biased news reports of the good and glorious acts of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk and the Terran Dominion every day, while belittling the enemies of the Dominion as if they are the worst scum of the universe. For James Eugene Raynor, this is exactly in his mind. All these years in his revolution against Arcturus Mengsk and his Dominion, the media has been broadcasting him as a dangerous criminal and a terrorist for disrupting the peace of the sector, obviously under the orders of Mengsk. This causes him to slowly lose support from the populace, resulting in a shortage of men and funds. Gradually, he and his raiders have been reduced from heroes of the Great War into a pitiful mercenary state.

Fortunately, the media has yet to convert everyman into Raynor haters. Raynor still has support from the populations of the fringe colonies, with one example from the colonists that he had just saved from forced labour in Backwater Station. Old friends such as Matt Horner, Rory Swann, and recently, Tychus Findlay, are still standing on his side. Now, sitting just right beside him, is one of his newest supporter; the current marshal (or ex-marshal) of Mar Sara colony, Tray Randall.

"_As for today's headlines, the colony of Mar Sara had openly declared rebellion against the rule of the Dominion. Just a few hours ago, the Dominion High Command had confirmed the news that the entire colonist population of Mar Sara had rebelled and killed every soldiers of the Omega Squadron on the planet. It has been estimated that more than 10,000 soldiers and military personnel of the entire Omega Squadron, died from this rebellion. The Omega Squadron was sent to quarantine Mar Sara 2 weeks ago due to an unknown outbreak of some mysterious new disease. They were supposed to be sent there to help the stricken colonists to look for a cure and to help maintain peace and order to the affected settlements. Yet, some terrorists have spread lies to the colonists of the affected settlements, inciting them to openly rebel against the Omega Squadron. The terrorists provide weapons and equipment to allow the ungrateful colonists to kill the Omega Squadron when they are caught off guard, resulting in such tragedy..._"

"What a load of rubbish! If they can be kind enough to evacuate the civilians before the quarantine, none of these would have happened in the first place! And what do they mean caught off guard? Old Harson told me that the Omega guys were all in a state of high alert before the insurrection even took place! They just don't want to tell the public that a Dominion squadron lost to a colony of armed civilians!" Tray remarks at the news.

"Now you know the real world, kid. Every news you hear from the media are not always accurate, especially those broadcasting from Korhal!" Jim tells his young companion sitting next to him, drinking up another cup of whisky.

"If I had known this was the true face of the Dominion, I would have never signed up at the first place!" Tray explains.

"I know what you mean, kid. If I had known that Mengsk is as bad as the Confederates, I would have never joined his Sons of Korhal too. People like Mengsk are good in hiding their true intentions from the general public, pretending to be selfless and righteous heroes that fight for the rights of others. Then, before you know it, they would stab you hard at the back. That's what makes people like Mengsk so dangerous." Jim replies.

"You speak as if you have experienced the real deal with Mengsk himself, what happened out there, Mr. Raynor? What had Mengsk done to you?"

"Long story, kid. This is one thing I really don't wish to share with others. Maybe some other day, but not now."

In the midst of Raynor and Randall's exchange of words, a tall, well-built Marine adorned in a blue CMC power suit approaches the duo. The Marine's visor is opened, revealing his scarred face, and a cigar in his mouth. He is Tychus Findlay, another recent addition to the Raynor's Raiders, who is also functioning as middle-man between the new deal between the Raiders and the mysterious Moebius Foundation.

"Well, well... looks like our newest recruit here is trying bond with the biggest man around here... hoping to get a high position so soon eh?" the Marine remarks sarcastically.

"Well... says the escaped convict who is trying to ruin Mr. Raynor's reputation with contracts of thefts and piracy." Tray defends himself.

"It's all just business, kiddo. You're too young to understand how the big boys these days earn their salary."

"I'm 24, mister, and I know very well that you are the man who is mainly responsible for dragging me into investigating this missing treasure case. I know that there are other more legal ways out there to earn credits, and theft is certainly not one of them!"

"Alright, you two break it up! The last thing I want is a fight to break out and all of us getting thrown out. The owner of this bar is already quite mad with me shooting at his only TV screen, and I don't want to lose my favourite drinking spot anymore!"

Jim breaks up the quarrel between Tray and Tychus, who both reluctantly agree to calm down and stop insulting each other.

"Sighhh... can someone please remind me why you take this all-too serious kid in, Jimmy?" Tychus sighs, as he takes another seat right next to Jim.

* * *

(_Flashback, 10 days ago..._)

_5 Vultures drive into the small secluded town of Riksville. _

_This tiny town is known for its lawlessness, as the colonists residing in this tiny worn down town had openly rioted against the Dominion regime countless number of times since its establishment. A few weeks ago, an uprising had occurred across this small town, in which the colonists had successfully driven off Dominion guards away from the town with the aid of a band of mercenaries. Since the successful uprising in Riksville, there had been many cases of uprising occurring across the colony of Mar Sara, including the more famous uprising in Backwater Station, in which a Dominion HQ office was burnt down and all Dominion guards killed. Thefts had also begun to occur across the colony since the Riksville uprising, with the most noticeable one being the theft of an alien artifact uncovered by the Dominion at a dig site near the Backwater Station (1). _

_Besides its lawlessness, Riksville is also one of the few areas that have yet to be hit by the outbreak of the 'mysterious green crystals'. Hence life in this small town is still relatively normal for the colonists living there._

_And now at Riksville, the 5 Vultures park at the side of a street, before the riders themselves disembark from their rides. One of the riders is the marshal of the colony himself, Marshal Tray Randall._

_Tray had been assigned by the commander of the Omega Squadron, who is now the highest command in this planet, to investigate the theft of the missing artifact at the dig site. Of course, Tray himself did not volunteer for this mission, but more like forced to do it. He would have preferred evacuating his stricken colonists from this planet infested by the 'mysterious green crystals', or help to look for a solution to clear this infestation. Instead, he was told to look for some missing government treasures that the Dominion soldiers had failed to protect. What a joke it is._

_Nevertheless, Tray decided to try to accomplish his mission as soon as possible, so that he may be able to plead to the commander of the Omega Squadron to do other more helpful missions. He had spent quite a lot of credits to bribe the Omega guards to spare his men from the brutal interrogation procedures which the Omega Squadron are notorious in. Then he had selected 4 of his officers to accompany him in this investigation. _

_Tray had already noticed that the thefts had begun shortly after the uprising in Riksville and Backwater Station. He had good sources of information that the uprisings were backed by a mercenary group, just not sure which one it was. However, Tray had a hunch that it was the same mercenary group that must have been responsible for the thefts as well as backing the uprisings. In order to find out, Tray and his team must head out to Riksville for further investigation._

_Before the team left, Tray passed his command of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia to his second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Drake Harson. He had also secretly contacted the Mars Air Squadron to get prepared and standby for any of his call. Since they were going to such a lawless area with no Dominion guards present at all, Tray and his men had disguised themselves as some ordinary Vulture bikers that wander around from place to place in order to avoid getting attacked by the lawless colonists living in those places._

_And here they are, in the centre of Riksville. Town activity is very quiet, probably due to a minor sandstorm which is still blowing. The investigation team decides to look for a place to shelter itself from the sandstorm. They look around their surroundings and see a flashy neon signboard that reads: JOERAY'S BAR._

"_Alright guys, let's go take shelter inside that bar. If we're lucky, we may find some cooperative civilians that are willing to give us some clues." Tray tells his team._

"_Ok sir!"_

* * *

_The group of 5 men enters the small bar. All the people already inside the bar immediately fix their attention to the newcomers. Tray surveys his surroundings; the locals do not seem to look friendly, especially to strangers like them. This can be a dangerous situation for the team; even though they are each armed with a sidearm, they will be no match against a mob like this. They will have to make sure not to antagonise anyone in this bar. _

_Inside the bar, Tray can see at least 10 more others present, including the bartender. One of them catches Tray's attention; a tall man adorned in a blue Marine CMC power suit, not carrying any C-14 gausse rifle or other standard Marine weapon._

'_What is that Marine doing in here, not even carrying his standard weapon? Is he off-duty or what? Wait, his armour is blue, but all standard Dominion Marine armour should be red, or brown for Omega Squadron, or yellow for the Mar Sara Colonial Militia. This means he is not a Dominion Marine! Could he have belonged to the mercenary group that had backed up the uprising in Riksville?' Tray wonders._

"_So... what can I get for you, strangers?" the bartender asks._

"_No thanks, good sir! We're just hoping you won't mind letting us wait in here until this storm subsides." Tray replies._

"_As long as you don't break anything, it'll be fine by me."_

"_Thanks man!"_

_The 5 men decide to take a seat around a round table._

_One of the locals, probably drunk from alcohol intoxication, seems to have nothing better to do. He stands up from his seat and approaches Tray's group. _

"_Hiccup... hey... you guys don't seem to be local around here... hiccup... what's your ... hiccup... business here?"_

_The group tenses as it appears that the drunkard is looking for trouble. Luckily, Tray calms his team down as he tries to reason with the man._

"_We're just a group of wanderers that got caught in this storm. All we need is just a storm shelter. Once it's over, we're leaving."_

"_There are so many... hiccup... places all around... hiccup... Mar Sara... hiccup... why here... hiccup... say... hiccup... you look kinda familiar..."_

_The group tenses again, as Tray is in danger of exposing his true identity. If they have been discovered in here to be serving the Dominion, who knows what these Dominion haters would do them._

"_Errr... I guess you must have mistaken me for someone."_

'_Come on, Tray, think! I need to get some clues out or else we'll be risking our lives in here for no reason.' _

"_Oh yeah, we've heard this town gained its independence from the Dominion, so we're curious to see how it's like. I mean, wow... I can't believe how you folks beat those Dominion scum! You guys must be amazing!"_

"_Hiccup... you think so too... hiccup... actually that's nothing... hiccup... we have to thank our independence to..."_

_Before the drunkard can expose any more words to Tray, the Marine steps in front of the duo and pushes the drunkard away from Tray._

"_Hey! What did we tell you about keeping our hideout a secret?" the Marine barks._

"_What's wrong about that... hiccup... Mr. Findlay... hiccup... I'm just trying to... hiccup... say some good words... hiccup... to you guys..."_

'_Findlay? Why did that name sound so familiar?' Tray wonders._

"_Oh great! Now you've exposed my name as well! Do you have a problem with me?" the Marine called Findlay threatens._

"_Me... hiccup... got a problem with you... hiccup... of course not... hiccup... you and your raider pals are the saviours of our town... hiccup... why should I have a problem with you... hiccup... hero?"_

"_Hey! Would you shut your damn mouth for even a second?"_

'_Hero? So that Marine must be part of the mercenary group that has been responsible for the Riksville and Backwater Station uprising! The group is probably responsible for the thefts of the artifacts too... wait... did he just say the word raiders? So does that mean...'_

_Tray is still in his thoughts when he hears a commotion just right beside himself. He turns around to see the Marine guy holding up the drunkard's collar._

"_Would you shut up, you old boozer?"_

"_Hiccup... alright... alright... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... hiccup... I swear I won't mention anything about Raynor anymore..."_

"_Why you... when have I told you to spill out everything in front of a stranger?"_

'_Rayor... as in Raynor's Raiders? As in Jim Raynor? Does that mean it is Mr. Raynor's team is responsible for the uprisings? Does that mean Mr. Raynor is in here? Right in Mar Sara?'_

_As Tray is still in his thoughts, he suddenly feels as if someone is pulling his collar up. He turns around to see that the Marine has switched his target to him. The Marine pulls Tray close to his face, eye to eye. The brute force of the Marine causes the hood covering Tray's head to drop down._

"_So kid, how much have you heard... hey wait... you look kinda familiar..."_

_Tray is worried. Adrenaline glands are now pumping adrenaline across his body, as he reaches out with his right hand, trying to grab hold of his sidearm. His other 4 subordinates also immediately stand up, preparing to brandish out their weapons. The other locals in the bar have been stirred by the sudden reactions of the strangers, and quickly stand up in alert as well. It seems a fight is almost inevitable._

"_Put that kid down, Tychus!"_

_A soft yet authoritive voice can be heard across the bar. All eyes fix onto a lone figure sitting in front of the bartender himself. The figure appears to be a man at his mid 30s. He is bearded and unshaven and has brown eyes and black greased hair, though his beard and hair appears to be greying. He wears a dark brown sweater and a white undershirt, along with a dark blue long pants and a pair of black knee-length combat boots. Tatoos cover both of his arms and black fingerless gloves cover his hands. A belt is tied across his torso, holding canister rounds. On the outside, the lone man appears to be just another ordinary drunk, but there is an aura of command and respect surrounding this man._

_Tray literally cannot believe his eyes. He has seen this face from far too many sources; history books, archive documents, news reports, wanted posters, etc._

"_I said put him down, Tychus!" the man speaks again._

"_But Jimmy, he..."_

"_Just do it!"_

"_Hmph... alright... alright! Consider yourself lucky kid!"_

'_Jimmy?' For Tray, there is no denying of the fact anymore._

"_Excuse me sir, are you Jim Raynor?" Tray cannot help but ask the grizzled man who have just saved his skin. For Tray, it is like as if he has finally met his teen idol._

_Tray's team also gasp in astonishment. In Mar Sara, the former marshal can be considered as a living legend for the younger officers for his heroic duties during the Great War. Despite the media black naming him as a feared terrorist, many of the officers in Mar Sara still hold a deep respect for him._

"_Oh great! Tychus, you just almost started a bar fight because of a drunk threatening to expose our identity. And now, you've just done the same to me!"_

"_Sorry, ol' buddy! So what do you want me to do? Silence the kid?" the Marine now known as Tychus Findlay asks._

"_Nope! I wouldn't do that if I would you, Tychus. If you're still wondering why, this kid you're holding happens to be the current marshal of this colony. So unless you want the entire Mar Sara militia come looking for your head, finish him by all means. I'll just pretend that I don't know you."_

"_You mean this kid here is the new marshal of this colony, the one that has filled up your shoes? Damn! No wonder I thought I saw this face somewhere! Just don't expect him to be that young!"_

_With that, Tychus releases Tray, who is still dumbfounded of whom he has just met. Right inside this bar is the famous outlaw, previous marshal of Mar Sara, and his idol during Officer Academy years; Jim Raynor himself, right back in his colony, and he somehow knew him. He has also just remembered the name Tychus Findlay; a wanted convict who has just escaped from the New Folsom Prison. Two of the most wanted men are now right in front of him, in the flesh._

"_So... what's the little marshal doing in here out of all places? Coming to arrest us?" Tychus asks._

"_Errr... not exactly. Our main objective is to investigate the case of the missing Dominion artifact. We have reasons to believe that since the thefts begin after the uprisings in Riksville and Backwater Station, indicating that the two cases are most likely to be related. That's why we..."_

"_Alright... I get what you mean, kid." Jim suddenly interrupts Tray's explanation. He then continues,_

"_You've just come to the right place, cos we know who's responsible for these rebellion and thefts: US!"_

"_WHAT!" Tray is astonished. He cannot believe that his idol would have admitted to have done such a thing._

"_But... but... sir, you must be kidding right? How could you have done such a thing? Rebellion, maybe; but thefts, this is insane!"_

"_Nope! What you've all heard is true, kid. Look, I don't know what you've been thinking about me all these years, but it's true that we are the ones who have stolen the artifact from the dig site. Does that help in your investigation?"_

_Tray cannot believe what he has heard. If what Raynor said was true, then his image of a righteous and heroic freedom fighter known as Jim Raynor was shattered completely. Tray is completely out of speech. Silence spreads across the bar after Jim admits his crimes._

"_O' hell! You've just scolded me for revealing your identity, little buddy. And now you yourself have just confessed everything! What's exactly in your mind, Jimmy?" Tychus decides to break the silence._

"_I find there's no point hiding anymore, Tychus. I know that it'll be a matter of time before the Dominion finds out that we're stealing their artifacts. We're already in a rebellion, Tychus, so there's no reason why we should make it a secret anymore. Besides, I think this kid should have a hunch that we are responsible for these, so I fell there's no point of denying the fact anymore." Jim reasons._

"_O...kay... I agree with that..." Tychus replies, before turning towards the dumbfounded Tray again,_

"_So kid, you have your men now! So what you're gonna do, kid? Arrest us? I advise you better don't try that though; you see all the men in the bar here other than your cronies, they're all on our side and won't hesitate to defend us if you try to do anything funny. Even if you manage to defeat us, there will be a huge squad of our Marines ready to respond to our call. So what you're gonna do, kid?"_

* * *

_Tray is in a dilemma. Tychus is right, he has his suspects now and he has the right to arrest them on the spot. However, this is not the ideal place to arrest Jim and Tychus, since it is obviously that the other colonists currently sitting in this bar are all Raynor's supporters. If he wants to make any arrests, he would have to do it in a hard way. Even though he and his men are armed with sidearm for self-defence, it would be very difficult for them to defeat more than 10 hostile and drunk colonists, a heavily-built convict adorned in a power suit and a living legend. And if what Tychus said is true, he would also have to get past an unknown number of armed Marines that will not hesitate to cut down anyone who threatens their commander._

_Then Tray starts to think deeply; is it really right to arrest Raynor? Surely, Raynor has been ordered to be arrested on sight by the emperor, but is it really a morally correct action to d? Although stealing is one type of crime Tray despises, but Raynor is also well-known for his countless acts of heroism not just in Mar Sara, but also across the entire Koprulu Sector. Raynor always acted for the interests of the others, and has been considered by the public in Mar Sara as a people's hero. If he chooses to arrest Raynor, the arrest would have enraged his colonists and he would have an even harder time to calm the rage of the general public, especially during a period of crisis like this. _

_Talking about crisis, Tray begins to recall the current outbreak of the 'mysterious green crystals' again. Deep in his heart, Tray knows that the crisis of this outbreak is a far more urgent matter than this investigation. If not because of the unscrupulous order by the commander of the Omega Squadron, Tray would not have cared about the missing artifacts at all. Now, he is wondering how the Omega Squadron would deal with this crisis when he was gone. Regardless of how they would handle the outbreak, Tray knows that no matter what the Omega Squadron does, they will still endanger and expose his colonists to the hazards of the 'mysterious green crystals' if they do not evacuate the colonists at first hand. Then, Tray thinks up of a plan that may be able to help him save his colonists._

"_No! I would not arrest you, Mr. Raynor, not today. I believe this is not of my utmost importance to arrest you for a minor case like this. In fact, I would like you to help me please."_

_Jim arches one of his eyebrow with mild interest, while Tychus looks at his friend in confusion. Clearly, both of them are taken by surprise of Tray's sudden change of attitude._

"_Asking for help, from me? Now you've surprised me kid. What kind of help do you need from a criminal like me?" Jim asks._

"_Mr. Raynor, since you're here in Mar Sara yourself, I believe you should have known about this current outbreak of the 'mysterious green crystals'." _

_Jim nods his head. News of this outbreak is spreading across Mar Sara like wildfire, even if the UNN has yet to announce it. Although Jim has never seen the crystals himself, he has heard tales about these alien crystals from some of the colonists he just rescued in Backwater Station._

"_As you can see, Mr. Raynor, the Dominion has quarantined this planet in response to the outbreak. However, when they conduct the quarantine, they did not evacuate the colonists beforehand. My colonists are dying because of this outbreak, but I no longer have the authority to order an evacuation since the Omega Squadron had forcefully taken away my command on this planet. I need your help, Mr. Raynor! You have a ship and you are not bound by the orders of the Dominion! Only you have the capability to help evacuate my people! Please, I beg you! Help me out!"_

_Jim is in deep thoughts. Initially, he wants to go out and check the spread of these 'mysterious green crystals' himself to see how bad the outbreak is. However, if it is really as bad as what the colonists have said, he does consider of evacuating the colonists away from the outbreak. He has the Hyperion, which should be big enough to carry another thousands of more people, while the rest can be transported off by his Dropships. However, to evacuate an entire population of Mar Sara, he would need more than just the Hyperion and his Dropships. He would need more credits to fund this evacuation operation if he wants to evacuate the entire planet, and the fact is his own band of raiders are running out of funds themselves. Their number of forces has dwindled thanks to the propaganda by Mengsk, so as their resources. This is why Jim decides to accept this deal with Tychus of stealing alien artifacts from the Dominion and selling them to the Moebius Foundation. _

"_Kid, I would be glad to help you... but how much are you willing to pay that for?"_

_Tray is excited at first when he hears Jim is willing to help, but his joy is quickly changed into shock when Jim actually demands payment from him._

"_But... but Mr. Raynor, what exactly do you mean?"_

"_Isn't that obvious, kid? If you need to hire my services, you would have to pay me first. There is a limit of what I can do to evacuate all the colonists on this rock. One or two towns, maybe; but the entire planet is something beyond of my limits. I can't do this alone for free, you know, and I still have many other easier jobs that can give me more handsome rewards. Unless you can pay me something worthy, this deal is off!"_

"_But Mr. Raynor, you can't just leave them alone out there! My people are dying, and they need your help! You used to be a marshal of this planet too!"_

"_Not my help; they need your help! I may be once the marshal of this rock, but it's all in the past now. You are the marshal of this rock, and these colonists are your responsibility; so you're the one that your people need."_

_Tray is furious, but Jim does make a point. Although Jim is a former marshal of Mar Sara, his predecessor, Jim no longer has the responsibility over this planet. Perhaps there is no other choice to convince Jim to help him out, unless he meets his demands._

"_Alright, Mr. Raynor! How about the entire treasury of Mar Sara? Would that suffice?"_

"_Really? Exactly how much would that be?"_

"_100,000 credits, that's the max."_

"_Too little! 100,000 is not enough to help me getting everyone out of this planet."_

"_But Mr. Raynor, this is all of the treasury of Mar Sara! I cannot provide any higher amount! You should know..."_

"_Yeah, yeah... I know. I know that Mar Sara is still a fringe colony of the Dominion, and this colony has been denied of holding bigger treasury. I know this colony is not rich enough, not as rich as some pig colony such as Korhal. But face the fact, kid; there are some things that we can do and we can't. Look kid, I really wish to help too, but it is really out of hand for me to evacuate an entire population of Mar Sara. I'm sorry kid, but you would need to find someone else."_

* * *

_Tray is left speechless. He has just been refused of aid by his idol. Although he is feeling mad, he can understand that Jim must have his reasons why he refuses to help. From their eye to eye contact, Tray can feel that Jim is telling the truth, and he is truly sincere in wishing to help. Perhaps Jim is right; Tray would need to provide Jim with more than 100,000 credits in order to support Jim in this evacuation operation. The question is how; even if Tray combines all the riches of his own properties and those of his officers', they can only mass up an additional 25,000 credits, which does not seem enough at all if Jim says 100,000 is too little. _

"_You heard the man, kid, so buzz off!" Tychus tries to drive the team away._

_As Tray looks at Tychus, he suddenly comes up with another way. However, if he follows this plan, he would be considered as a traitor and would definitely charged for treason. He would throw off his bright future if he follows this plan._

_Tray needs to consider carefully if he wants to follow this plan. Does it really worth for him to continue following orders from the Dominion? Is working for the Dominion a rightful job? He has seen the 'true faces' of the Dominion these days during the outbreak, and he feels he has seen enough. Finally, he makes his decision._

"_Or how about this, Mr. Raynor. Help me evacuate this planet, and I along with the entire Mar Sara Colonial Militia will pledge our service to you, Mr. Raynor. We would help you out using all our resources available, and after this operation, we would join your forces and fight for you."_

_Jim freezes while Tychus literally spits his drink out; both are completely taken by surprise by such an offer. _

"_But kid, this means that you would be joining me as part of Raynor's Raiders! You would be treated as a convict by the Dominion if you follow me!" Jim reminds Tray._

"_I know, Mr. Raynor, and I've made my choice. I believe that the rest of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia would respect my decision too. Please, help us out, and we would gladly join the raiders!"_

_With that, Tray bows to Jim, hoping to convince Jim to change his mind._

"_So... you're name is Tray Randall, right kid? Tell me; why are you so willing to throw away your future in the Dominion and prefer to work for an outlaw like me? Why do you care about these colonists so much?"_

"_You see, Mr. Raynor; Mar Sara is my birth planet, and it is literally my home as well. I grew up in a poor community, where hunger and poverty killed my parents when I was only 8. I would have died in the streets if not my neighbours were kind enough to offer me food and shelter. From that day onwards, I would treat all fellow Mar Sara colonists as part of my family. As I grew up, I'd seen enough of this poverty state of my home planet, so I believe that I can do something to help make a change. This belief is strengthened when you, Mr. Raynor, saved us from the zerg invasion 4 years ago during the Great War. You knew that you would betray the Confederacy if you chose to follow the Sons of Korhal, yet you decided to do so in the expense of your future in the Confederacy. You did this because you believed it is the right thing to do!"_

_Jim remains silent, as he remembers the events happening during the zerg invasion of Mar Sara during the Great War. Tray continues his reasoning,_

"_And now, I believe this is the right thing to do. I decided to join the Sons of Korhal too because I believed I could make a change if I joined the Sons of Korhal. I attended the Dominion Officer Academy because I believed by becoming an officer, I could one day enter Dominion politics so that I could one day make a huge difference. If I could gain enough power, I might be able to change the current situation not just in Mar Sara, but also other fringe colonies too. Sadly, the outbreak of these 'mysterious green crystals' had shown me the true faces of the Dominion. I no longer believe that my future is with the Dominion anymore. I believe the only way to make a change in Mar Sara, is to overthrow the Dominion and set up a new regime, with you Mr. Raynor. Please Mr. Raynor, allow me to join Raynor's Raiders, and together we would save all the colonists from this outbreak and overthrow the corrupted regime of the Terran Dominion!"_

_Touched by their leader's speech, Tray's other 4 teammates also join in to bow towards Jim._

* * *

_Jim himself is also touched by the young man's speech. He reminds him of his own self when he was younger and his first officer, Matt Horner. This young man has a lot of spirit and enthusiasm, and he would provide a great boost of morale to his crew. Jim knows that his recent lethargy is also affecting most of his crew as well, and Matt Horner is unable to lift up their spirits by himself. Perhaps this new addition will do. Most importantly though, Jim needs extra manpower and equipment, and this young man can provide lots of them in the form of Mar Sara Colonial Militia. In conclusion, this offer is too tempting to decline._

"_Alright... you win kid. I accept your offer!" Jim announces his decision, as he stretches out his right hand, offering a handshake. _

"_Th... thank you so much Mr. Raynor!" Tray is ecstatic as he shakes Jim's hand vigorously in excitement. Finally, he can be able to save his men and his colonists._

"_You're welcome, Tray. Welcome to the Raiders!"_

* * *

(Flashback ends, back to the present...)

"_According to the last reports sent back by the now fallen commander of the Omega Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson, the terrorists who were mainly responsible for this rebellion seemed to be a newly established terran faction who called themselves as the Brotherhood of Nod..."_

The symbol of the Brotherhood of Nod, a red and black hexagon with a scorpion tail within, shows up in the screen of the UNN news report, as the anchorman continues his report,

"_This symbol is said to be the symbol of this terrorist group called the Brotherhood of Nod. They are a bunch of sinister, ruthless and evil warmongers. All faithful citizens of the Dominion, remember to report to your nearest Dominion post if you see anyone who carries this symbol. Now, we will hear what our beloved emperor has to say about this attack. Let's return to the press conference held by Emperor Arcturus Mengsk just one hour ago, back in Augustgrad Palace..."_

"Brotherhood of Nod? Never heard of it!" Tychus remarks.

"Because it' new, that's why it is unheard of, silly!" Tray jokes.

"Hey! When did I ask for your remarks, smartass?"

"Quiet down, you two! Just listen quietly, will you? I need to know how Mengsk is going to respond to this rebellion." Jim silences the duo, who have no choice but to comply.

The TV screen now flashes to show the emperor of the Terran Dominion, Arcturus Mengsk, addressing the crowd in front of his palace in Korhal. As usual, the aging emperor is still dressed in his Dominion admiral uniform.

"_All I want to say is that whoever responsible for these despicable acts of terrorism, they would soon regret their decisions! I won't care who they are, Raynor or Combine or this Brotherhood of Nod, any acts of terrorism against the Dominion would be considered as declaration of war against the Dominion. I would assure you, that whoever did this to disrupt the peace of this sector, justice would be dealt against them."_

"Hey! I'm not the one responsible for killing your Omega boys! Why did you even bother to mention my name?" Jim retorts to Mengsk's speech in the news, obviously annoyed that he was badmouthed by the emperor of the Dominion even for something that he was not responsible for.

"You know, Jimmy, I kinda feel sorry for these Nod guys or whoever they are called. I think they are kinda stupid to have pissed off old Mengsk like that. Even if they can pull off a stunt like that, I don't think they can do the same even to half of the entire Dominion fleet. Don't you think so, buddy?" Tychus expresses his own thoughts about this matter.

"I don't know, Tychus. Never seen those Nod guys in action before. Maybe you should ask little Tray who happens to be just beside us; he went to rescue his boys from them, he'd seen them in action, he'd heard about them from his men. So what do you have to say, Tray?"

"I'm not so sure about that too, sir. All I do know is no matter who they are, their numbers are simply staggering. I remembered when I looked down from your Dropship, their numbers were like thousands or even millions, almost enough to match a zerg invasion in quantity. I believe the majority of them were recruited from the colonist population, seemingly to have been lured by those guys by taking advantage of their rage against the Dominion. No matter how well-trained are the Omega guys, there was absolutely no way for them to defend themselves against millions of angry armed colonists." Tray replies.

"What about their equipment? Is it true that they used weapons that were completely unseen and not even registered in the Dominion database?" Jim asks again.

"It's true sir. On my way to rescue my second-in-command, I saw a lot of these never before seen weapons and vehicles; Marine-like infantries armed with dual chainguns, wheeled bikes armed with rocket pods, burrowing mobile bunkers, scorpion-shaped tanks, fighters smaller than a Mutalisk, and cannon-mounted gunships that can cloak themselves. Although, in my point of view, these things don't seem to be as tough as the regular Dominion arsenal, they are fast and unique in their own ways. The Nod guys must have created them by themselves, because only they seem to know how to put these strange weapons to their maximum effect."

"I still don't quite get it. Okay, I admit that these guys have weird weapons that those Omega boys didn't expect, but that still doesn't explain why even the Omega fleet lost this battle too. Don't tell me that those Nod guys can fight off a fleet of a dozen Battlecruisers too?" This time, it is Tychus's turn to ask Tray.

"From what I've heard from Drake, it seems they do. It turns out that the initial rebelling forces on the ground were justly solely made up of the colonist population. The actual Nod forces arrived in a massive fleet, far outnumbering those of the Omega fleet. It was this pincer attack by both the colonist ground forces and the actual fleet that defeated the Omega guys. Also, I've heard rumours from Drake that these Nod guys seemed to know how to cure the symptoms of these 'mysterious green crystals'!"

"Wow... they even got their own fleet too? And they know how to solve something that gets your scientists scratching their heads? Now that's a serious bunch of assholes. Remind me never mess with them. Anyway, we really have to thank these Nod guys. They've helped distract old Mengsk away from us, and best of all, they've just rescued your colonists. With your people safe in those bunch of tough nuts, there is no need for you to worry about your men anymore."

"Are you serious, Mr. Findlay? How can I feel rest-assured when my colonists are under control of these guys?"

"Urrr... why not? Didn't they just liberate your men?"

"Liberate? More like using them! I've seen how those guys deploy my colonists; they were using them like fodders or a form of distraction. If they really want to liberate my people, they should not have provided them with outdated and almost useless weapons and equipment! I can tell that these Nod guys were merely plotting something, and they were using my colonists to drive off the Dominion, not truly liberating them!"

"So you're saying that these Nod guys are treating your men as expendables? Hmmm... sounds like what Mengsk would do too. Okay, I can agree you with that kid. But still, we have to compliment these guys for finding a cure for this... outbreak."

"No! I won't thank them for finding a cure for this outbreak too! In fact, I feel more suspicious about how they did that!"

"Oh... come on! You shouldn't pout at them for accomplishing something that you and your men have failed to do..."

Suddenly, Jim interrupts Tray and Tychus' conversation.

"Actually, I have to agree with Tray for that. Indeed, it does look suspicious. How can this new guy in the block manage to accomplish this feat of finding a cure for this outbreak the moment when they arrive, when it makes the Dominion scientists to scratch their heads for months just to figure out what these crystals are. Doesn't that imply you of something, Tychus?"

"Urrr... no... I didn't enter the Officer Academy like you two guys do. Perhaps you can enlighten me about that?"

"What it means that there is a high chance that this outbreak could be their doing! What I'm trying to say is that maybe it was these Nod guys who had brought those crystals down to this rock at the first place! They must have known how to control these crystals, or maybe even created them. That's why they are using these crystals against the Dominion in every ways possible! Because they know how to control them, they can trick the colonists to think that they have the cure for this outbreak, so they can earn their trust and support against the Dominion!"

"Wow... why I've never thought of that! These Nod guys must be something if they can pull off a stunt like that..."

"And one more thing; I don't think that this Brotherhood of Nod is even newly established at all. The kind of coordinated strike they have planned against the Omega boys and their overall plan in this insurrection, I don't think these guys would have thought about it overnight. Such a battleplan would mean that these guys must have it planned out years ago, and they must have spent a long time to prepare this rebellion."

"So you're saying that these Nod guys might have already existed a long time ago, yet all of us have no idea of their existence? Incredible!"

"I don't know, Tychus. What I want to say is that this Brotherhood of Nod must never be underestimated. If these guys can destroy a full Dominion squadron, who knows what other stunts are they capable of. Especially during our present state, it is best of our interest to avoid them as much as possible. I'll be contacting Matt to bring down the _Hyperion_ to get everyone out when there is the chance."

Every raiders in the bar, including Tray and Tychus, nod to Jim in approval. His words do make a point; in their current state, they would be no match against these Nod forces. It would be a rational idea to try to get out of this planet as soon as possible, before the Nod forces notice this little town.

* * *

"_The emperor has announced that a state funeral would be conducted on board of the Bucephalus above the orbit of Korhal, in memory of the valiant commander of the Omega Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Gregory Reikson, and the rest of the Omega Squadron, all who have tragically perished in this terrorist attack..."_

"Valiant? Hah! Why not conducting a funeral service for the millions of colonists killed in this planet?" Tray remarks to the news sarcastically.

"_And now for the latest news; there were unconfirmed reports that there were some remnants of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia that had survived this terrorist attack and had gone into hiding. Rumours of such news are spreading across the neighbouring planet of Chau Sara colony. Let's get Kate Lockwell to tell us the details, who is now live in Chau Sara orbit. Kate please..."_

A split screen appears in the news program, as the second screen shows a young black and long haired beauty standing in what appears to be inside an orbital space station.

"_Thank you, Donny. This is Kate live in Chau Sara orbital station. Since the Dominion had forbidden all travels to Mar Sara due to the recent terrorist attack, we have been forced to stay at the nearby Chau Sara system for our own safety. By the way, the rumours began when communication officers of this station intercepted some emergency transmission messages passed in between by the men of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia. The officers in this station declined to further comment, but they said that they heard what seems to be that some of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia received help from Raynor's Raiders, hence they were able to escape from the onslaught of terrorist attacks and..."_

Like most times, before Kate can finish her report, Donny immediately cut her transmission. Some believe that it is because Donny is jealous of the rising popularity of Kate as a reporter and sees her as a threat to his status as lead anchorman, thus he will do anything to prevent Kate from standing in the limelight for too long.

"_Thank you Kate for your report. You've heard that, folks! The cowardly troops of the Mar Sara Colonial Militia, not only did they abandon their fellow Omega Squadron comrades to their deaths, they even sided with another terrorist group that we know as Raynor's Raiders. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, militia of Mar Sara? Isn't it your duty to defend your colony?"_

"Bullshit! The Omega Squadron was already destroyed before we even retreated! And we did fight as hard as we could! Try talking about this shit when you experience the battle yourself!"

Tray shouts at the TV screen. Everyone in the bar just looks on. They can understand why Tray is so furious.

But this news is going to be interrupted soon...

"_Don't you... bzzzt... bzzzt... bzzzt... ..."_

Suddenly the TV screen turns static, before screen shows another scene. The scene does not appear to be inside the UNN studios anymore. Instead, it shows a bald, moustached man with a goatee, dressed in a black robe, standing in a dark background, too dark to determine its exact location.

"_What's the matter, Donny? Why not let Miss Lockwell finish her report? Or is it that you're afraid she would steal your position?"_

All the people in Joeray's Bar watching the news are shocked of the sudden development.

"Woo... who's that baldy?" Tychus asks, still confused of what is going on.

"Shh... quiet down Tychus!" Jim shushes Tychus. He needs to know what is going on.

Soon, the mysterious bald man in the screen continues,

"_Anyway, I find your report to be disappointingly inaccurate. The Brotherhood of Nod is not a terrorist group. It represents the will of the people, the wish to live in a better life, the wish to live a free life without the oppression of the tyrants in the name of the Dominion. We have existed for millennia, we have arrived here earlier before you do, and we have watched all your actions since your arrival during the great exile. We've witnessed the Guild War; we've witnessed the fall of the Confederacy; we've witnessed the Great War; we've witnessed the rise of the Queen of Blades; we've witnessed the fall of the Overmind; we've witnessed the fall of the UED; and we've witnessed the rebuilding of the Dominion. We've witnessed everything, and we felt that it is time, for us to finally take our actions! It is time, for us to leave a mark in this history of mankind! The insurrection of Mar Sara is only just the beginning, the beginning of a grand campaign that will see the people of the Koprulu Sector voicing out their anger against the unsatisfactory life provided by the tyranny of the Dominion. The destruction of the Omega Squadron was a merciful bullet to the head of a malignant ideology. It was the death of fear and birth of hope! Rejoice, people of the Koprulu Sector. The blood of your oppressors will flow like a river and the centuries of tyranny will finally end! Transformation is coming! A new day will dawn! The future, will be ours! Throw away your shackles bound to you by the despots, and join us in this rebellion in the name of Nod. The colonists of Mar Sara had proven to you that the Dominion was not invincible. If the colonists of Mar Sara could succeed in liberating themselves, you can too! Join us, in the name of humanity! I am Kane; join me, and you will see a new future... bzzzt... bzzzzzt... ..."_

After the mysterious bald man finishes his impressive debuting speech, the screen turns static again, before returning back to the news scene with Donny Vermillion sitting in front of the screen inside the UNN studios.

"_Errr... what's just happened?"_

It appears that the sudden interruption of his news report had confused him too.

* * *

Silence spreads across the tiny bar in Riksville. Everyone who has just watched the sudden interruption of the UNN news is stunned of the sudden twist of event. Finally, Tychus decides to be the first to break this silence,

"Man... talking about a breaking news indeed! You know, Jimmy, I kinda admire this Kane guy and those Nod goons now. They are sure bold enough to intercept the Dominion news channel so that they can make their statement across the whole sector."

"Indeed, Tychus. But I wonder what the Nod guys are going to do next. Arcturus will definitely not sit well with this message. Mengsk will most likely take some actions to deal with this new threat to his regime. Those Nod guys may have defeated the Omega boys, but I doubt they can do the same to the more serious ones like the Alpha Squadron or the Nova Squadron." Jim replies.

"True... I guess. Still, I like their trick of hacking right into their news channel to spread their own message. Hey Jim! Perhaps we can try that trick too against Mengsk some other day. It would surely make his blood boil. Damn, I can't wait to see old Mengsk's angry face when he sees this message!"

"Hmm... I'll consider it, Tychus. Right now, we'll just focus on how to get out of this rock, so that we can avoid this Brotherhood and go find your Moebius guys."

"Agreed, old buddy."

* * *

(Meanwhile, inside Augustgrad Palace at Korhal...)

The emperor of the Terran Dominion, Arcturus Mengk, is sitting inside his royal conference chamber along with dozens of other ministers, generals and advisors. He is clenching his fists hard, showing his rage.

The emperor was having a meeting with his men regarding about the recent terrorist attack on Mar Sara, when he was informed about this sudden interception of the UNN news channel. Soon after the information, he and his men quickly switched on the TV screen in the meeting room.

As what Jim has predicted, Arcturus does not take the message lightly, which was sent by this mysterious man known as Kane.

"Warfield?"

"Yes, my lord?"

An old but strong, dark skinned man dressed in a Dominion admiral uniform respond to the emperor's call.

"I want you and your men to find and trace the source of this transmission. Find it, no matter the cost!"

"Yes sir!"

Warfield immediately leave the chamber, as Arcturus comments to the other people present in the room,

"Once I find the location of this man known as Kane, I'll make sure that he would regret threatening me and my authority! I would wipe out the existence of this Brotherhood of Nod from the face of this universe!"

* * *

(Meanwhile, in the now captured Mar Sara Magistrate Building at Mar Sara...)

The Commander smirks as he watches Kane making his statement in the intercepted UNN news transmission. He knows that the Dominion would respond against Kane's threat very soon with brute force, but by that time, the Brotherhood would be ready to face them. The fleet that he had led to this insurrection is only but a small fraction of the entire Nod armada. If the Dominion wants war, the Brotherhood would be ready to give one.

Although it is unfortunate that his forces have failed to seize any top-secret documents from the Magistrate Building, they did seize control of the building to symbolize their control over this planet. Now, the Magistrate Building serves as a temporary command centre for the Commander. He is about to commence the two missions, which were given to him by his leader not too long ago.

"LEGION, are the strike teams ready for the missions at the dig site and Jacobs Installation?"

"AFFIRMATIVE! A STRIKE TEAM HAS BEEN DEPLOYED TO THE DIG SITE NEAR BACKWATER STATION. THE DIGGING WOULD SOON COMMENCE AS YOU COMMAND. AS FOR THE JACOBS INSTALLATION, I HAVE CONDUCTED AN INTERNAL SCAN AROUND THE AREA, AND I FOUND SOME THREATS THAT MAY JEOPARDIZE THIS MISSION."

"Tell me, LEGION, what did you find in your scans?"

"SCANS HAVE INDICATED THAT THIS ABANDONED MILITARY INSTALLATION IS CURRENTLY IN LEVEL 3 ZERG INFESTATION. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THESE ZERGS ARE ESCAPED LAB SPECIMENS SINCE THE CLOSURE OF THE INSTALLATION. THESE ZERGS ARE WILD, NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE QUEEN OF BLADES AND ARE ONLY DRIVEN BY THEIR OWN INSTINCTS, SO THEY WILL NOT POSE TOO MUCH OF A SERIOUS THREAT TO OUR OPERATION. HOWEVER, SCANS HAVE SHOWN POSITIVE CONTAMINATION OF ZERG SPORES IN THE INSTALLATION. THESE ZERG SPORES HAVE STRONG INFESTATION PROPERTIES AND WILL POSE A SERIOUS HAZARD TO OUR REGULAR SOLDIERS. BESIDES THE ZERG THREAT, SCANS HAVE ALSO SHOWN THAT THE AUTOMATED INTERNAL SERCURITY SYSTEMS ARE STILL ONLINE. DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE COMMUNICATION RECEIVER OF THE INSTALLATION, I AM UNABLE TO REMOTELY HACK INTO THE SYSTEM TO SHUT IT DOWN. THE ONLY WAY TO SHUT DOWN THE SYSTEM IS BY CONNECTING THE INSTALLATION NETWORK TO ME AT THE INSTALLATION SITE."

"I see... LEGION, deploy a cybernetic squadron for this mission. I'll leave you in charge of this operation."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER!"

* * *

(Meanwhile, somewhere in the Koprulu Sector...)

A Protoss fleet is travelling through the warp space, heading towards destination unknown.

The fleet is led by a Mothership, a massive Protoss capital ship the size of a city, armed with an array of unique and powerful weapons. Escorting the Mothership is a fleet of Scout fighters, Phoenix fighters, Void Ray warships, Warp Prisms transports and Carriers.

Inside the bridge of the Mothership, a purple-skinned Protoss is grimacing while looking at the outside of the ship, as if he has seen something unpleasant. He has green eyes and he wears a purple robe and a mask that covers the lower portion of his face. On his right arm, there is a gauntlet which is used to generate a powerful master psi blade, or warp blade, as his weapon.

He is Zeratul, dark prelate, and a hero of the Great War.

Since killing his matriarch to free her from the control of the wretched Queen of Blades, Zeratul made himself in a state of self-exile. During this period of exile, Zeratul learnt the existence of Zerg-Protoss hybrids, and the possible return of the Xel'naga. Since his encounter with the mysterious terran named as Duran on Braxis, Zeratul spent most of his time trying to learn more about the hybrids and the prophecy of the Xel'naga return. Throughout his journeys, he had confirmed about the awakening of the hybrids; he had learnt about a dark prophecy of the end of universe; and he had seen the vision of the scenario of the end of Protoss and the universe.

His self-exile was finally about to be brought to an end, when he encountered this expeditionary fleet just a few weeks ago. Initially, Zeratul refused to take the lift offered by the Protoss fleet. However, as he realised that he needed to warn his friend and wartime comrade, Jim Raynor, about what he had learnt, Zeratul agreed to follow this fleet, with the condition to allow him to find Jim Raynor first.

As Zeratul grimaces, another Protoss standing right beside him, dressed in a High Templar ceremonial robe and armour, seems to notice something is disturbing the dark prelate, so he asks,

"_Prelate Zeratul, you look disturbed. Is it because of the whispers you have been hearing from the Void again?"_

Zeratul turns around and stares at his companion, before he answers,

"_I've sensed a new evil is arising. A new evil that will forever change the fate of our world."_

"_What is this new evil, Prelate Zeratul? Is it the creators or the hybrids?"_

"_Neither of them. Although somehow, I can feel that there is a connection between this new evil and the return of our creators."_

"_How will they influence the fate of this world? Do they stand a place in the prophecy?"_

"_I don't know. Regardless of that, I must pass these to friend Raynor. He must know of this prophecy and this dark vision. He holds the key to our survival!"_

"_I understand, Prelate. I promise that I will find Raynor as fast as I can!"_

"_Thank you, executor. I owe you one for this!"_

Zeratul looks into his right hand, clenching tight of not just one Ihan crystal, but two.

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Lair of the Beast

Nod cyborgs are about to be "field tested" against wild zergs living inside the Jacobs Installation. Under the command of LEGION itself, the cyborgs squad will retrieve the schematics of the psi emitter regardless of the dangers lurking inside the abandoned installation.

* * *

(1) The second mission (the Outlaws) in Wings of Liberty

* * *

My Nod Arsenal: Cybernetic Technology

Unrestricted by the laws set by the United Powers League on earth since their ascension, the Brotherhood of Nod takes its liberty to further research and develop cybernetic technology. During the days on earth, Nod used cybernetic technology to either build cyborgs for battle against their enemies, or to enhance their regular soldiers in battle. After the ascension, the Brotherhood of Nod found little use for their cybernetic technology during peaceful period. Still, this technology was still applied by the Brotherhood for medical uses, such as treating natural born defects or replacing amputated limbs. With the approaching war, the Inner Circle began to authorise the use of cybernetic technology to create a new batch of combat cyborgs and cybernetically enhanced soldiers to face the looming threat of the Terran Dominion, Protoss forces, and Zerg Swarm.

Unlike most regular soldiers, the cyborgs are not trained for war; they are programmed for war. This type of programming leave them to make very little mistakes in the midst of battle. It also strips their emotion, allowing them to listen and obey to orders without question. They are more machine than men, with the only trace of their organic origins coming from the few organs that are left to sustain them. Cyborgs are considered as both biological and mechanical, allowing them to be resistant to poisoning, radiation and infestation, while immune to mind control under infestation. Due to these reasons, the Inner Circle considered that cyborgs are much more superior than the neural resocialised soldiers deployed by the Dominion.

Not surprisingly, the control of the cyborgs mainly fall under the control of LEGION. Before the ascension, it is LEGION that was responsible for activating the Marked of Kane, the first batch of cyborgs since the reign of CABAL. Since then, LEGION was mainly responsible for upgrading and improving Nod's cybernetic technology, even after Nod's ascension. LEGION can link itself and communicate with its cyborgs, allowing LEGION to occasionally command a mission by itself without the aid of a commander. Or, by using a cyborg as a medium, LEGION can hack a control terminal regardless of the location. Hence in any mission regarding the use of cyborgs, LEGION will be vital for the mission's success.

* * *

Just to remind that future updates may be much slower due to my university curriculum. By the way, I've finished the Wings of Liberty campaign and I have to say that I'm rather surprised about the current turn of events in Starcraft universe. I wonder how the Heart of the Swarm will go. Still, I want to say that Starcraft 2 is an epic game, so much better than C&C4.

Anyway, the next act will feature a short battle against the zergs. So stay tuned!


	10. Act 9: Lair of the Beast

Sorry for making you all to wait so long for this update; just busy with my studies. Finally, this act is done!

Starcraft AU has made more than 3000 hits! And with the positive reviews, I'm so glad of everyone's support for this story. It lets me know that people are enjoying it and I'm on the right track.

To Numbuh six-sixtysix: The Moebius Foundation is a legitimate archaeological and scientific research organisation in the Starcraft universe. In Wings of Liberty, it is the Moebius Foundation which hired Jim Raynor to help them search for the ancient Xel'naga artifacts, with Tychus Findaly as the middleman. In this story, I'll assure you that they will star in an important role in the plot.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 9: LAIR OF THE BEAST**

(Jacobs Installation, Mar Sara...)

Jacobs Installation; once an old Confederate military and research installation that stores the data files of a number of Confederate secret weapon, with rumours of those of the fabled Transplanar Psionic Waveform Emitter (psi emitter for short) to be one of the them. During the zerg invasion in the Great War, a strike team sent by the Sons of Korhal, led by Jim Raynor himself, raided the facility to acquire this data schematics of the psi emitter. When Raynor's strike team retreated and left Mar Sara, the Protoss fleet arrived to incinerate Mar Sara in attempt to halt the spread of the zergs. The installation sustained heavy damage and was abandoned ever since, even after the recolonisation of the planet 2 years ago. Although there were rumours that there is a stash of valuable ardeon crystals stored inside the abandoned installation, few dared to enter and explore the facility to exploit its hidden riches. Those that did enter, however, were never been heard ever since. Then, just a year ago, the Dominion had confirmed the installation to be infested by a number of wild zergs, and had placed the facility to be strictly off limits.

But now, with the defeat of the Omega Squadron, the Brotherhood of Nod gained control of this planet. With no more guards guarding the restricted area, 3 Reckoners burst through the ground unopposed at the site of the entrance point.

The first Reckoner unloads its passengers; 2 fully functional Enlightened cyborgs with their Centurion cannons and shield generators ready.

The second Reckoner begins to unload its passengers too; 2 weirdly built cyborgs that have their lower limbs replaced with 4 spindly mechanical legs like an insect. They are covered with red and black armour that is less bulky than those of the Enlightened, but still bulkier than those of the Devouts. Their helmets cover their whole face, with 2 red visors shaped like insect eyes. Their right arms are pincer-shaped cannons, while their left arms are tipped and built like some kind of a sprayer. They carry a reactor cell on their back, which has a sharp tip that protrudes out of the outline of the cyborg like a crooked red horn on its back. They bear the Nod symbol at their chest.

They are Spider cyborgs (1), continuation of the Reaper cyborgs of the Firestorm crisis and the Fourth Tiberium War.

The third Reckoner, is in front of the other two Reckoners. This usually means that it is carrying the leader of this cybernetic strike team as one of its passengers.

When its passenger hatch opens, another cyborg steps out. This one however, looks much different than the others. This one is adorned in a full red body armour with the Nod symbol stamped at the chest. Its armour is as big and as bulky as those used by the Enlightened. Its helmet bears a single green, narrow horizontally-lined visor. Its right arm bears a pincer-shaped cannon like those of a Spider cyborg, while its left arm is fitted with a special cannon of some sort. It has a massive, bulky reactor on its back shaped like a small throne. Despite the bulk on its back, this cyborg is able to move with adequate speed and agility.

It is the leader of this cybernetic strike team, a Cyborg Commando. It is one of the most advanced and most powerful unit in the Nod army.

After the Cyborg Commando steps out of the third Reckoner, 2 more Nod infantries follow and exit the Reckoner. These 2 other infantries are not cyborgs, but they are considered to be important in this mission too. These 2 infantries are covered in a full body hazard suit with a jump jet and 2 mechanical arms strapped at their back. They have their right hands replaced with mechanical claspers. Like most Nod infantries, they bear the Nod symbol at their chest and their heads are covered with a single green bubble helm.

They are Nod Saboteurs, specially trained combat engineers that are tasked in a variety of support roles; including building capture, mechanical repairs, booby trap placement, emergency base repair and others.

With all the passengers unloaded, the 3 Reckoners burrow and disappear into beneath the dirts again, leaving the cybernetic squad in front of the entrance gate of the abandoned Jacobs Installation.

* * *

The Cyborg Commando looks up at the entrance gate, which is tall enough to allow a Terran Thor walker to walk through. Its optical sensors begin to scan the gate to find if there is any way to breach through it.

"SCANNING... STANDING BY... SCAN COMPLETE! RESULTS INDICATE THE ELECTRONIC LOCK HOLDING THIS GATE IS STILL ACTIVE. HOWEVER, THE LOCK CAN BE DISABLED BY HACKING THROUGH THE CONTROL TERMINAL SITUATED AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GATE. INPUTTING COMMAND: CONNECT TO THE GATE CONTROL TERMINAL AND LINK UP TO LEGION FOR THE HACKING OPERATION."

These words appear in front of the screen of the Cyborg Commando's visor after it finishes its scan. Immediately, the Cyborg Commando obeys the instruction given without questions, as it approaches the gate control terminal.

Its right pincer-shaped cannon opens up to reveal a mechanical hand, which a cable emerges out from the wrist. The cyborg connects its wrist cable to the control terminal to start the hacking process, in which the deep male mechanical voice of the LEGION can be heard through the cyborg,

"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... ELECTRONIC LOCK DISABLED!"

The moment when LEGION announces that the gate control terminal has been hacked, the massive gate opens up, clearing the path for the Nod cybernetic squad.

With the gate opened, the Cyborg Commando disconnects its cable from the control terminal, and reforms its right hand into its primary weapon.

"LEGION TO CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NUMBER 66: BATTLEFIELD MINIMAP HAS BEEN DOWNLOADED INTO YOUR SYSTEMS... NEW MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED..."

"PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: TO LOCATE AND DOWNLOAD THE SCHEMATICS FOR THE PSI EMITTER."

"SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: THE INTERNAL AUTOMATIC SECURITY SYSTEMS ARE STILL ONLINE, LOCATE THE CONTROL TERMINAL FOR THE AUTOMATIC SECURITY SYSTEMS AND DISABLE THEM."

Receiving its mission objectives, the Cyborg Commando saves its new mission directives into its processor.

"MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED... INITIATING OPERATION..."

The Cyborg Commando, with designated number 66, reads out in its own monotonous, mechanical voice, before leading its cybernetic team into the infested installation.

* * *

The inside of the Jacobs Installation is just as spacious as what the size of the gate suggests. It is big enough for a Thor heavy assault walker to be housed in. As the Installation goes in further, there are many split paths that get smaller in space and lead into deeper areas. For most first-timers, they would have easily gotten lost. However, this does not apply to the Nod cybernetic squad, as they all have the minimap of the installation just downloaded and displayed in their visors. With their minimap on, they would know where to head to.

The cybernetic squad moves down along the entrance path and deeper into the installation, cautiously and slowly. They have been earlier warned that the automated defences in this installation are still online, and there are zergs living inside this abandoned installation. All the soldiers survey their surroundings as they walk along, watching out from any signs of danger.

As the squad approaches a T-junction, they encounter the first hostiles. 2 pop-out Sentry Guns appear out of nowhere from beneath the ground, and starts to fire off their 12mm at the cybernetic squad. Still, the cyborgs are completely unfazed by the sneak attack. As quick as they notice the enemies, the Enlightened moved their shields in front of the group, blocking off all the incoming 12mm rounds. The Enlightened then proceed to finish off the Sentry Guns with their 70mm Centurion cannons, blasting off the pop-out turrets and leaving 2 smoking holes on the ground. After the brief encounter, the Saboteurs begin to check up on the cyborgs and quickly repair any damages found using their Scalpel repair arms.

At the T-junction, the cybernetic squad faces 3 possible paths. The minimap shows that one is confirmed to be leading towards a dead-end, while another leads to an opposite direction away from the main data storage terminal which the team is trying to reach towards, hence the team approaches towards the gate that will lead towards the third path. On a closer inspection, however, the gate is already heavily damaged and non-operable due to debris crashing onto the gate itself. The only way to pass through would have to be breaking through the debris by force. Nodding to one another as if the cyborgs are fully synchronised to one another, the 5 cyborgs let loose their weapons. 70mm shells and lasers cut the debris into smaller pieces, which eventually crumble to pave a way through for the cybernetic squad. The squad resumes their journey.

After clearing the debris and crossing the gate, the squad arrives in a more spacious chamber. As they approach towards a set of staircases that leads towards a higher floor, they encounter more automated defences. 4 more pop-out turrets, 2 Sentry Guns and 2 Missile Launchers, activate and starts to fire at the squad. In a split-second, reaction, the Enlightened bring their shields in front of the squad to block off the turret rounds, while shooting back with their 70mm Centurion cannons. At the back of the Enlightened, the Spider cyborgs immediately fire their Multi-Object Laser Dispersal System (MOLDS), letting loose of powerful laser blasts that disperse from their initial targets and spread damage across the field. Cyborg Commando no. 66 also fires its rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon towards the turrets. The results; instant destruction of the turrets with no damage done onto the cyborgs. However, the energy readings of the Enlightened are starting to show signs of depletion, and soon they will run out if they continue to encounter more enemies. They must find the control terminal to shut down the automated defences quickly.

As the cyborgs approach the stairways, another pop-out turret appears; this time it is a Perdition flamethrower turret installed on the wall. Fortunately, the quick reaction of the cyborgs means that the wall turret is instantly put out of action before it can start spewing out flames. With another obstacle out of the way, the squad climbs the stairways to reach the upper floor.

* * *

The squad treads carefully along the narrow corridor where the stairways lead to. So far, the minimap shows no signs of hostiles, but they know that all the potential threats in this mission are well-hidden, and a slight moment of lapse may result in jeopardising this mission.

As the squad continues to travel along the corridor, they begin to see something on the floor. There is a thick, purplish grey slimy substance covering the floor: creep! The sight of creep could only mean one thing: Zergs!

The cyborgs quickly get themselves into a state of high alert, readying their weapons so that they can respond to any sudden zerg ambush. The Saboteurs quickly stick close to the cyborgs. The group had been briefed about zergs, so they know that the sight of creep would mean that there are zergs nearby.

"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED!"

LEGION's warning suddenly echoes throughout the corridor through the vocal processor of the Cyborg Commando. Then, just a few metres in front of the squad, 4 creatures burst through from beneath the creep and floor. The creatures are identical in appearance; dog-sized creatures with glowing yellow eyes, sharp fangs, strong hind limbs, powerful forelimbs ending with a single scythe-like claw, a pair of vestigial wings and a pair of overhanging appendages armed with razor sharp claws.

"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... ENEMY UNITS IDENTIFIED AS ZERG SUBJECT: ZERGLINGS..."

The emerging Zerglings give out an ear-piercing screech, before leaping towards the squad.

The Saboteurs are worrying for their own safety. Although during their trainings, which they were being taught about the different types of zergs and how they behaved, to experience the real thing was something they had never been trained in. The Saboteurs had heard tales of how these ravenous little creatures tear apart their prey limb by limb, and eat their victims alive. They are afraid that this mission is going to be their last.

Fortunately, the cyborgs are not intimidated by the sight of the Zerglings.

"SUBJECT: ZERGLINGS APPROACHING... INPUTTING COMMAND... TERMINATE SUBJECT!"

The cold, mechanical voice of Cyborg Commando no. 66 sounds out across the corridor as it orders its squad. In less than a second, the Enlightened set their shields in front of the group, protecting the Saboteurs. At the same time, the Spiders and Cyborg Commando no. 66 fire off their laser weapons. Immediately, 3 of the 4 Zerglings are immediately scorched into sizzling pieces of flesh by the laser weapons. The last Zergling try to pounce onto the squad, only to be wasting its effort by pounding on the energy shield of an Enlightened. With its might, the Enlightened knocks the attacking Zergling hard onto the floor, finishing it off with a 70mm Centurion cannon shell before it can recover. The 4th Zergling has its head blown into bits as the shell bursts through its thin carapace.

"TARGET: TERMINATED... RESUMING OPERATION..."

With the Zergling threat neutralised, the squad continues to advance.

As they advance a few more metres, they see one mass of organic tumour-like lump sitting on the floor, expanding and contracting like a heart. The squad instantly recognises the structure: a Creep Tumour. As usual, the cyborgs are about to dispose the tiny creep producing organ, when their minimap suddenly picks up multiple signatures of incoming hostiles.

"WARNING! ENEMY UNITS DETECTED! A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF ZERGLINGS IS HEADING TOWARDS OUR LOCATIONS FROM THE OPPOSITE END OF THE CORRIDOR! THEIR NUMBERS WILL CAUSE SERIOUS THREAT TO THE SQUAD. INPUTTING COMMAND... ORDER THE SABOTEURS TO SET UP BOOBY TRAPS ON THE ZERG CREEP TUMOUR; WHEN THE ZERGLINGS APPROACH AND LEAP PAST THE CREEP TUMOUR, THE BOOBY TRAPS WILL BE SET OFF TO DESTROY THE CREEP TUMOUR AND THIN OFF THE ZERGLING NUMBERS; IT IS ESTIMATED THAT A SMALL NUMBER OF ZERGLINGS WILL SURVIVE THE BOOBY TRAPS, BUT THEIR THINNED DOWN NUMBERS WILL BE NO MATCH AGAINST OUR SQUAD."

After receiving orders from LEGION, the squad immediately gets into actions. Following the orders given by LEGION, the Saboteurs quickly set their Booby Trap charges onto the Creep Tumour. With the trap set, the Saboteurs quickly back off and stay behind the cyborgs. A few moments later, a pack of more than 20 Zerglings is seen leaping towards them, eager to feast upon the small band of soldiers. The cyborgs immediately fire off their weapons, killing some of the Zerglings. As the surviving Zerglings get closer and closer, they run past the Booby Trapped Creep Tumour, triggering and setting off the Booby Trap charges. The result is explosive, and bloody. The charges blow off to rip the Creep Tumour forcefully apart, spilling out blood and tissues. The blasts of the charges also immediately take out more than 10 Zerglings, spraying out more blood and broken limbs and bodies. Only a few Zerglings running behind the pack are lucky enough to avoid the blasts, but their luck runs out short as their heavily reduced numbers mean that they are no match against the well protected and well-armed Nod cyborgs. In just a few seconds, the last of the Zerglings in that pack has been terminated.

"ALL SUBJECTS TERMINATED... RESUMING OPERATION..."

The squad resumes their journey, leaving piles of Zergling carcasses behind.

* * *

The corridor leads to a more open space, which again is covered by creep, secreted by 2 Creep Tumours. However, what alert the attention of the cyborgs are not the Creep Tumours, but something else.

Out in the open, stood 4 large serpentine creatures the size of a small car. Each creature have a serpentine like lower body and tail, with broad muscular shoulders. Their arms are long and muscular, ending with 3 menacing scythe like claws on each arm. Their heads are crowned with an enormous crest big enough to shield their hunched backs, and they have two sets of lower jaws that are both covered with sharp fangs and dripping with drool. The Nod squad instantly recognises this particular breed of zerg, one that is too iconic in the terran culture.

"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... ENEMY UNITS IDENTIFIED AS ZERG SUBJECTS: HYDRALISKS..."

The Hydralisks stare at their intruders with their menacing red glowing eyes. Then they let out a loud, threatening deep growl.

"GRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWHHHHH!"

The Hydralisks face the cyborgs as they arch their shoulders, with skin flaps opening up to reveal rows of spines.

"WARNING! HYDRALISK ATTACK IMMINENT! INPUTTING COMMAND... ENGAGE THE ENEMIES!"

With inhuman reaction, the Enlightened stand themselves in between of the group and the Hydralisks, holding up the energy shields and facing towards the Hydralisks. The Hydralisks launch a volley of sharp spines towards the squad, only for the spines to be deflected off by the shields. The Enlightened then raise up their own weapons and fire, shelling and wounding one of the Hydralisks. The wounded Hydralisk screech in pain after its left arm has been blown off. The Spiders and the Cyborg Commando also follow suit, firing their laser weapons at the Hydralisks. Another one of the Hydralisks receive the focus fire of the laser attacks, screeching and dying as its chest burns away from the laser-induced burns. With one Hydralisks taken out and one wounded, the other 2 Hydralisks feel a bit intimidated by the cyborgs. Their instincts are telling them to flee from the danger. Before the Hydralisks can react, the cyborgs attack again, killing another Hydralisk with a head shot. This finally forces the last Hydralisk to flee, as it slithers away from the scene. The previously wounded Hydralisk tries to lash out against the cyborgs with its claws, only to fall victim to the Cyborg Commando's Gladius laser cannon, which punches multiple penetration wounds through its head.

With the Hydralisk threat neutralised, the cyborgs proceed to destroy all zerg threats by destroying the Creep Tumours as well. With the Creep Tumours reduced into blotched mass of blood and flesh, and creep "drying up", it appears that the zerg threat in this mission has finally be neutralised. Unfortunately, the Nod squad cannot let their guard down yet.

"WARNING! ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... A LARGE NUMBER OF ZERGS ARE HEADING TOWARDS OUR LOCATION!"

Indeed, the minimap begins to show a large number of around 20 Zerglings and 5 Hydralisks heading towards the Nod cybernetic squad current location. The zergs have them outnumbered, and there is no more fixed structure for the Saboteurs to halt the zerg advance with Booby Traps. Something else is needed to be done. LEGION quickly analyses the situation and responds with a command.

"INPUTTING COMMAND... ORDER THE ENLIGHTENED TO MAINTAIN THEIR SHIELDS UP AND HOLD OFF ALL INCOMING HYDRALISK PROJECTILE ATTACKS; ORDER THE SPIDERS TO IMMOBILISE THE ZERGS WITH THE SYNTHETIC WEB SHOT ABILITY SO THAT THE ZERGS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ATTACK OUR FORCES, ALLOWING US TO DESTROY THEM WHILE THEY ARE IMMOBILISED."

After receiving their commands, the Enlightened immediately follow suit and hold up their energy shields in front of the squad, while the Spiders stay directly behind of the Enlightened with their Spinneret web sprayer ready. A few seconds later, screeches and growls of incoming zergs can be heard. Then, spines are shot towards the Nod squad, which are deflected off by the Enlightened shields. Zerglings can be seen scurrying towards the squad, with Hydralisks slithering close behind. The sheer numbers of the zergs threaten to tear the small squad apart.

Such scenes would have made recruit Marines to pee in their pants, but not for the cyborgs. They are never programmed to fear. With absolute calmness, the Spiders raise their left arms, shooting out synthetic web towards the zerg cluster like casting nets onto a school of fish. The results are effective; the Zerglings are immediately stuck under the extremely sticky web, like flies stuck in a spider web. The webs also trap 4 of the 5 Hydralisks as well. The ensnared zergs struggle with all of their might, desperately trying to claw or bite their way out. Unfortunately, the more they struggle, the worse their predicament. One of the trapped Hydralisk tries to open its skin flaps to shoot out its spines, but finds out that even its skin flaps are stuck to the web. In simpler words, the attacking zergs are now all sitting ducks to the Nod cyborgs.

The only remaining Hydralisk that is lucky to avoid the web tries to take on the cybernetic squad itself, only to end up blown to pieces by the Enlightened cannon shells. The rest of the ensnared zergs also share the same fate; being blown into pieces by cannon shells or cut and scorched by the lasers. In less than a minute, the initial 20+ Zerglings and5 Hydralisks are now all lying dead on the floor; blown or cut into smaller pieces.

"ALL SUBJECTS TERMINATED... RESUMING OPERATION..."

* * *

(10 minutes later...)

The Nod cybernetic squad is now approaching the control room where the control terminal of the Jacobs Installation automated internal security systems is located. For 10 minutes since the encounter with the zergs, there have been no further signs of hostiles. The squad has passed through a series of corridors, before arriving to another open chamber. On the other side of the chamber, there is a gate. The minimap has indicated that the control terminal for the installation's automated defences is located in the room beyond the gate. If the squad can reach that terminal, they can allow LEGION to hack into the system using Cyborg Commando no. 66 as a medium, and shut down the automated defences in the installation once and for all.

The squad wants to cross the chamber towards the gate at the other side, but the cyborgs have calculated out that the probability of encountering an ambush in an open chamber is simply too overwhelming. There must be something lying in ambush, waiting to strike the squad when they are trying to walk across the chamber. As the squad is still pondering whether to cross the chamber, an alarm sounds in their system,

"ENEMY UNITS DETECTED!"

Soon enough, the squad spots a Hydralisk approaching from another corner of the chamber. Before the squad can deal with the Hydralisk threat, something else did.

Without warning, 20 pop-out Sentry Guns emerge from the floor and fire off their 12mm rounds, shredding the unfortunate Hydralisk into mangled pieces before retreating back into the floor.

The Saboteurs are speechless; they feel lucky that they have not yet crossed the chamber, or else they will end up the same fate with the Hydralisk. With 20 Sentry Guns lying in ambush across the open chamber, there will be no way for their small team of cyborgs to punch through, even with the presence of a Cyborg Commando.

"WARNING! THIS CHAMBER IS HIDDEN WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF AUTOMATED DEFENCES, OUR CURRENT NUMBER OF FORCES WILL BE OF NO MATCH AGAINST THIS AMOUNT OF DEFENCES. SCANNING AREA FOR WEAKNESSES..."

LEGION announces through the Cyborg Commando, warning the squad not to do anything rash while it tries to scan the area for any possible way to pass through the chamber.

"SCAN COMPLETE: RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE AUTOMATED SENTRY GUNS ARE ALL FULLY OPERATIONAL AND WILL ACTIVATE TO FIRE AT ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN PICKED UP BY THE GUNS' MOTION DETECTORS. HOWEVER, THESE GUNS REQUIRE AN OPTICAL SIGNAL IN ORDER TO LOCK ON THEIR TARGET, AND THEIR ADVANCED INFRA-RED SENSORS ARE NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL. INPUTTING COMMAND: CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 66 SHALL ACTIVATE ITS STEALTH GENERATOR AND SLIP THROUGH THE CHAMBER TO THE GATE AT THE OTHER SITE. THE GUNS WILL ACTIVATE, BUT THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE ANY VISUAL LOCK ONTO THE CYBERNETIC COMMANDO. THE GATE IS STILL ACTIVE AND WILL OPEN AUTOMATICALLY WHEN MOTION IS DETECTED. NO. 66 SHALL WALK THROUGH THE GATE, ACCESS THE CONTROL TERMINAL, AND SHUT DOWN THE INSTALLATION AUTOMATED INTERNAL SECURITY SYSTEMS. THE REST OF THE SQUAD SHALL REMAIN HERE AND WAIT FOR NO. 66 TO COMPLETE THIS OBJECTIVE."

Receiving its orders, Cyborg Commando no. 66 activates its stealth generator. The massive Lazarus reactor on the Cyborg Commando's back rumbles, before covering it in an invisible shroud. The cloaked Cyborg Commando then proceed to walk across the chamber as if nothing will happen, while the rest of the squad just stay at the same spot and wait.

Just as LEGION has predicted, all the Sentry Guns pop-out from beneath the floor again, as their motion detectors sense the approach of someone or something. However, their optical sensors cannot pick up the visual signal of the cloaked cyborg, allowing the cloaked cyborg to walk towards the gate unopposed. Sensing motion from an incoming visitor, the gate opens up, allowing the Cyborg Commando to enter the room without trouble.

Once in the room, the cloaked Cyborg Commando no. 66 spots the control terminal. Scans have confirmed that this is the control terminal that it has to access to complete the secondary objective of this mission. Without hesitation, the Cyborg Commando connects itself to the control terminal, allowing LEGION to access the system.

"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... SHUTTING DOWN INSTALLATION AUTOMATED INTERNAL SECURITY SYSTEM... SECONDARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED: ALL AUTOMATED DEFENCES IN THIS INSTALLATION ARE NOW DEACTIVATED!"

AS soon as LEGION announces that the secondary objective of the mission has been completed, the Sentry Guns outside the room immediately deactivate, returning back into beneath the floor again. When Cyborg Commando no. 66 walks out of the room and crosses the chamber again to reunite with its squad, uncloaked, the Sentry Guns never respond to the cyborg's motion; further confirming that the automated defences have been shut down.

"SECONDARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED... RESUMING OPERATION... HEADING TOWARDS PRIMARY OBJECTIVE..."

The Cyborg Commando announces to its team, before leading them towards their main objective; to find and download the schematics for the psi emitter.

* * *

(Another 10 minutes later...)

The Nod cybernetic squad have been walking past intricate networks of corridors, chambers and rooms. They have successfully shut down the automated defences inside this installation, allowing them to roam across the interior of the installation unopposed. On their way, they have encountered several times of wild zerg attacks, but these zerg attacks are quickly neutralised by the Nod cyborgs. Ever since the mission has begun, the cyborgs have yet to sustain any damages, thanks to the protection offered by Enlightened energy shields and repairs performed by the Saboteurs. Now, this mission is about to end, as the minimap has indicated that the main data storage control terminal in this installation is just a few walks away.

The squad enters another open chamber, which appears to be a resource stockpile. At a corner of the chamber, there are crates of ardeon crystals lying around. These crystals look like ordinary blue mineral crystals, but have a much brighter shine on it, making them very valuable to other terran factions. However, if one could take a closer inspection onto these crystals, one can see that there is something wrong with these ardeon crystals.

"WARNING! CONTAMINATION OF ZERG SPORES DETECTED ON THESE ARDEON CRYSTAL STOCKPILE! THESE ZERG SPORES HAVE HIGH INFESTATION PROPERTIES, AND THEY WILL POSE A SERIOUS HAZARD TO OUR SABOTEURS... INPUTTING COMMAND: DESTROY THE CONTAMINATED ARDEON CRYSTALS TO PREVENT THE ZERG SPORES FROM INFECTING OUR SABOTEURS."

The cyborgs heed LEGION's warning, in which they proceed to destroy the contaminated ardeon crystals with their weapons. The crystals get smashed into pieces by the attacks, releasing some spore particles into the air. These spore particles would have infected and infested normal terrans, but not against cyborgs, which have been implanted with special nanites in their bloodstream to resist infestation. After the spore particles settle to the ground, the squad proceeds with their operation. However, it seems that the destruction of the contaminated crystals has attracted some unwanted attention.

"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED... ENEMY UNITS IDENTIFIED AS ZERG SUBJECT: INFESTED TERRAN..."

In front of the squad, 4 Infested Terrans approach towards the squad at a slow walking pace like zombies in old terran movies. They look like normal terrans, except that they are covered with zerg carapace at some certain body parts, their skins are bloated and claws and appendages have sprouted out from their bodies at random locations.

"P... pleeaassee... hheellpp... usss... ..."

"INPUTTING COMMAND: THE INFESTED TERRANS HAVE HIGH INFESTATION PROPERTIES THAT CAN POSE A SEVERE HAZARD TO OUR SABOTEURS. THEIR CLAWS ARE RAZOR SHARP AND CAN SLASH THROUGH OUR CYBORGS' ARMOUR. TERMINATE THE INFESTED TERRANS TO MINIMISE RISKS TO THE SQUAD!"

After receiving the orders from LEGION, the cyborgs shoot at the Infested Terrans in cold blood. Before the Infested Terrans can close in to the Nod squad, all of them collapse onto the floor, dead (and to a certain extent... liberated).

"ALL SUBJECTS TERMINATED... HEALTH SCANS ON THE SABOTEURS SHOW NO SIGNS OF INFESTATION... RESUMING OPERATION..."

* * *

(One minute later...)

The Nod cybernetic squad arrives in front of a collapsed pile of debris. The minimap indicates that their primary objective is located just beyond the debris. If they can punch through the debris, they will be able achieve their primary objective of downloading the schematics of the psi emitter and complete this mission.

This task may seem too simple for the cyborgs, but LEGION can sense something suspicious.

"WARNING! A LARGE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT HAS BEEN DETECTED BEHIND THE DEBRIS. SIGNATURES OF THE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT HAVE BEEN MATCHED TO BE BOTH BIOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL! HIGH CAUTION IS ADVISED!"

LEGION warns its squad. There is a large unknown object standing in between the debris and their primary objective. It seems that if they want to accomplish this mission, they have to confront this unknown object. Receiving the advice to maintain high alert, the cyborgs focus all their fire onto the debris, hence clearing the path.

The squad enters and finds themselves in a dark, spacious chamber. Scattered across the chamber, there are stockpiles of ardeon crystals, all contaminated with zerg spores. The scene is a mess, with craters that match those caused by powerful explosions scattered all across the area. Some of the ardeon crystals are already ruined, seemingly to have been blasted by the same explosions that cause the craters. Overall, it appears as if something has been wreaking havoc across this chamber.

"WARNING! CONTAMINATION OF ZERG SPORES IN ARDEON CRYSTALS DETECTED... INPUTTING COMMAND: DESTROY THE CONTAMINATED CRYSTALS..."

Before LEGION can finish inputting its commands into its squad, there is a huge sudden tremor shaking across the chamber, as if there is something massive approaching. All the cyborgs immediately get their weapons ready and form into battle formation. For something that is so big and heavy to have caused a tremor that can be felt across the entire chamber, it indicates that the large unknown object picked up earlier by LEGION must be in here too. The unknown object may have been an Ultralisk, one of the largest ground based zerg breed ever recorded; but it is unlikely because Ultralisks normally only appear in areas with at least level 7 zerg infestation, not level 3; also, LEGION has stated earlier that the unknown has both biological and mechanical parts, rather like cyborgs. So the question is; exactly what is this unknown?

The tremors can be felt again, as the large unknown object seem to be approaching the group.

"WARNING! A LARGE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT HAS BEEN DETECTED... SIGNATURES OF THE UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT MATCHES TO THOSE OF ZERGS AND TERRAN THOR HEAVY ASSAULT WALKER... ALL UNITS STANDBY FOR ENGAGEMENT!"

The large unknown object continues to approach the squad, until a silhouette emerges out from the shadows. The silhouette approaches even closer, until its full form has been shown in front of the Nod squad.

The unknown reveals itself to be a Terran Thor heavy assault walker. However, this Thor is covered with zerg carapace around its central cockpit region. Zerg organic tendrils spread from the central cockpit of the Thor and reaches its twin cannons and leg servos. Large gigantic claws extend out from the back of the Thor, covering up and replacing its supposed 250mm strike cannons. The cockpit of the Thor is open, revealing an Infested Terran to be piloting this Thor. All sources of the zerg organic parts covering the Thor seem to have originated from this Infested Terran. In simpler words, the unknown appears to be an Infested Thor piloted by an Infested Terran (2).

"Ggoooo... aaawwwaaayyy... tthheessee... aarrddeeoonnss... aaarrreee... mmmiiinnneee... ..."

The Infested Thor pilot shouts out in its distorted voice.

"WARNING! THE INFESTED TERRAN IN THAT THOR IS EXHIBITING A HOSTILE INTENTION AGAINST OUR FORCES! INPUTTING COMMAND: TERMINATE THE INFESTED THOR!"

The cyborgs immediately let loose their weapons, firing off shells and laser at the massive Infested Thor. However, despite the focus fire of the cyborgs, the Infested Thor does not seem to be hurting too much from the attacks.

"Ggrraarrgghh... ggoo... aawwaayy!"

The enraged Infested Terran immediately strikes back, as it manoeuvres the Infested Thor to attack the squad. The twin infested Thor's Hammer cannons fire out, striking at one of the Enlightened shield. In just a single attack, the energy shield is almost drained out of power from absorbing the impact.

"THE INFESTED THOR POSES A HUGE THREAT THAT WILL JEOPARDISE THE SUCCESS OF THIS MISSION... NEW MISSION OBJECTIVES RECEIVED... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: DESTROY THE INFESTED THOR!"

Confirming the new mission objective to destroy the Infested Thor, the cyborgs resume their attacks onto their massive opponent.

"Dddiiieee... ..."

The Infested Thor fires again with its twin infested Thor's Hammer cannons, striking the same Enlightened shield again, and this time taking out the energy shield completely. It appears that there is no way to shield out against the intense firepower of the Infested Thor for long.

"THE FIREPOWER OF THE INFESTED THOR IS TOO POWERFUL FOR THE ENLIGHTENED SHIELD TO HOLD OFF... THE INFESTED THOR PROVES TO BE TOO LARGE FOR THE SPIDER SYNTHETIC WEB TO IMMOBILISE WITH... INPUTTING COMMAND: ORDER THE ENLIGHTENED TO CONVERT THIER SHIELD GENERATOR BACK INTO EMP CANNON... USE THE EMP CANNON TO SLOW DOWN INFESTED THOR BY DISABLING ITS MECHANICAL MOTOR FUNCTIONS!"

Receiving the advice from LEGION, the Enlightened quickly convert their shield generators back into EMP cannons, since there is no point of shielding against such intense firepower of the Infested Thor. One of the Enlightened is unable to fire off its EMP cannon, due to all its energy drained to shield off from the Infested Thor's attacks earlier. The other Enlightened, however, quickly follow its orders by firing off an EMP shot at the Infested Thor.

"Ggrraarrgghh... I wwiill... nnoott... bbee... ssstttooopppeeeddd!"

The EMP shot hits its mark, slowing down the Infested Thor significantly. However, it does not completely halt the Infested Thor's movements, as the Infested Thor seems to be now running entirely by the muscular movements of the zerg organic tendrils that cover the massive walker. Still, the cyborgs waste no time to continue to fire upon the Infested Thor.

The Infested Thor begins to receive some visible damages; but during the battle, it appears that the damaged parts of the Infested Thor are regenerating at an incredible rate.

"THE ZERG SPORES OF THE CONTAMINATED ARDEON CRYSTALS ARE ACCELERATING THE CELLULAR REGENERATION OF THE INFESTED THOR... INPUTTING COMMAND: CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 66 SHALL ACTIVATE ITS STEALTH GENERATOR AND DESTROY ALL THE CONTAMINATED CRYSTALS TO HALT THE INFESTED THOR'S CELLULAR REGENERATION... THE REST OF THE SQUAD SHALL RESUME THE ATTACK ONTO THE INFESTED THOR... SABOTEURS TO BE STANDBY FOR REPAIRS ONTO THE CYBORGS."

Cyborg Commando no. 66 immediately follows LEGION's orders, cloaking itself to hide from the Infested Thor's view, while the rest of the cyborgs distract the Infested Thor's attention. No. 66 begins to change its targets to the contaminated crystals, shooting and destroying the stockpile of contaminated ardeon crystals with its rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon. The Saboteurs are staying close behind the cyborgs, ready to repair them from any damages since the shields are now all gone.

"Gggeeettt... lllooosssttt..."

The Infested Thor fires another round of infested Thor's Hammer cannons, blasting an Enlightened off its footing. The Enlightened is suffering from massive damage to its armour, but it still stands up and continues to engage with the massive walker. Saboteurs immediately begin to nano-repair the damaged Enlightened using their Scalpel repair arms. While the Enlightened and the Spiders are engaging the Infested Thor, no. 66 is secretly destroying all the contaminated ardeon crystals while in stealth mode.

"Gggrrraaarrrggghhh... ..."

The Infested Terran is now shouting in frustration, when the Infested Thor gets hit by another EMP shot from the second Enlightened. The cyborgs are now frustrating the Infested Thor so much, by surrounding the massive infested walker on all sides and circling it around, stopping only to shoot. The partially disabled Infested Thor is having a tough time trying to keep up with the circling cyborgs. To make matters worse for the Infested Thor, the Saboteurs are repairing back all the damages that it has dealt to the cyborgs.

"Gggrrraaarrrggghhh... tthhaattss... iiittt... yyyooouuurrreee... gggoooiiinnnggg... dddooowwwnnn!"

With a war cry, one of the massive claws at the back of the Infested Thor suddenly extends out from the back like a tentacle, striking one of the Saboteur. Before the squad realises what has happened, the unlucky Saboteur has been impaled by the tentacle claw through the back. The limped form of the dead Saboteur hangs on the tentacle, with his blood dripping along the tentacle. Although the cyborgs are not feeling any surprise of the loss of one Saboteur, the other Saboteur has been scared out of his wits with the loss of one of his comrade. In his panic, the remaining Saboteur tries to make a run away from the scene. Too bad before he can reach to safety, another clawed tentacle strikes him down, drawing out his blood and guts onto the floor.

"UNIT LOST... WARNING! ALL SABOTEURS ARE LOST... CYBORG REPAIR CAPABILITIES ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE... ALL UNITS, ENGAGE THE INFESTED THOR WITH EXTREME CAUTION... INPUTTING COMMAND: ALL ENLIGHTENED AND SPIDERS ARE TO CIRCLE AROUND THE INFESTED THOR AND DO AS MUCH DAMAGE AS POSSIBLE; CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 66 SHALL DESTROY THE INFESTED THOR WITH SUPER-CHARGED PLASMA CANNON AFTER ALL CONTAMINATED ARDEON CRYSTALS ARE DESTROYED..."

Knowing that they have lost the support of Saboteurs to repair them, the cyborgs are now engaging the Infested Thor even more cautiously, circling around it in order to try to outmanoeuvre the big, clumsy walker while dealing as much damage as possible with their weapons. Periodically, the Enlightened will fire an EMP shot onto the Infested Thor to further slow it down. They are doing their best to stay online as long as possible to increase the chance of success in this mission.

However, this plan is not working too well now. While the partially disabled Infested Thor is unable to hit its targets with its infested Thor's Hammer cannons, it is still able to hit them with its clawed tentacles.

"BOOM... SYSTEMS CRITICAL... INITIATING SELF-DESTRUCTION PROTOCOL..."

One of the Enlightened has its lower limbs completely torn off from a clawed tentacle. Sparks and circuitry are spewing out from its severed torso. With all its might, the critically damaged Enlightened crawls towards the Infested Thor using only its arms. Before it can reach the Infested Thor, another clawed tentacle impales the legless Enlightened through its core, causing a huge explosion.

"Gggrrraaarrrggghhh... ..."

The explosion blows off one of the clawed tentacle of the Infested Thor. Undeterred by the loss of another comrade, the remaining 3 cyborgs continue their engagement with their enemy.

Angered by its injury, the Infested Thor strikes again; this time another clawed tentacle trashes a Spider cyborg into half diagonally, spewing out sparks, circuitry and some green liquid. The bisected Spider lies on the floor motionless, offline and out of action.

Then, another clawed tentacle strikes once more, making the second Enlightened limbless. Before the legless Enlightened can crawl towards its target, the mechanical motor functions of the Infested Thor have finally recovered from the EMP shots, as the Infested Thor resumes its normal speed and destroys the slow moving legless Enlightened with a blast of infested Thor's Hammer cannons.

The last Spider does not fare any better than the other cyborgs, as it finds itself impaled by a clawed tentacle through its torso, lifted up and brought right in front of the Infested Thor, before blasted by the infested Thor's Hammer.

"Haa... haa... haa... haa... haa... aatt... llaasstt... tthhee... aarrddeeoonnss... aaarrreee... mmiinnee!"

The Infested Terran piloting the Infested Thor shouts out in victory. However, as the Infested Terran surveys his carnage, he realises something is amiss.

"Nnnnnoooooo! Mmmyyy... cccrrryyyssstttaaalllsss!"

The ardeon crystals are now completely in heaps and pieces, all destroyed and shattered. Without the zerg spores to sustain its regeneration, the Infested Thor is now limping heavily with severe damages sustained to its leg servos, along with missing appendages and one severed clawed tentacle. Then, before the Infested Thor can salvage anything, another laser blast shoots out from nowhere, hitting and completely disabling the motor functions of its leg servos.

"Gggrrraaaggghhh... wwwhhheeerrreee... aaarrreee... yyyooouu?"

The Infested Terran, fixed inside the cockpit of the Infested Thor, turns his head frantically in search of his mysterious assailant. Then, another shudder can be heard, and suddenly a vibration can be felt in front of the infested Terran, as if something is just right in front of him. The Infested Terran looks in his shock as the 5th cyborg uncloaks right in front of him, with a glowing orb of energy charging in its left hand cannon.

"YOU ARE TERMINATED!"

"Nnnnnoooooo!"

The super-charged plasma cannon is fired off from the no. 66's left hand cannon, blowing off the Infested Terran along with the entire Infested Thor cockpit. The result is devastating; the Infested Thor explodes in a spectacular display of blood and explosion, before its disabled leg servos give way to the massive weight of the walker, causing the bulky walker to collapse onto the ground motionless. Another explosion occurs after the Infested Thor collapses, blowing the once massive walker into smaller pieces.

"INFESTED THOR DESTROYED... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED!"

LEGION announces through no. 66, as the now lone Cyborg Commando walks away from the scene of carnage to resume its mission to reach for the data storage control terminal in order to obtain the schematics for the psi emitter.

* * *

(Another minute later...)

Cyborg Commando no. 66 has reached the final room in this installation; the main data storage room. The room is empty, except for a control terminal placed at the centre of the room. No. 66 approaches the control terminal with confidence. Its scans and minimap have confirmed that there are no more hostiles left in this area. Right now, the only task left for it to complete is to download the schematics of the psi emitter from the control terminal.

No. 66 reaches the control terminal as its Gladius laser cannon unfolds to reveal its mechanical right hand. A cable extends out of the wrist of the mechanical hand, which connects to the control terminal. At the same time, the processor of no. 66 is now fully connected and synchronised to LEGION, allowing LEGION to begin downloading using no. 66 as a medium.

"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE... DOWNLOAD LINK ESTABLISHED... INITIATING DOWNLOAD... STANDBY..."

LEGION reports as it begins to download files from the old Confederate database into itself.

"DOWNLOAD COMPLETE... 89, 999 FILES DOWNLOADED, INCLUDING THE SCHEMATICS OF THE TRANSPLANAR PSIONIC WAVEFORM EMITTER... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!"

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

* * *

(A few hours later, in Mar Sara Magistrate Building...)

The Commander is pleased.

Not long ago, LEGION had successfully completed its mission to extract and download the schematics of the psi emitter. Cyborg Commando no. 66, the sole survivor of that mission, had just been extracted by a recon squad and brought back to base for repairs and maintenance. It is for the better of the Brotherhood's future to preserve as many elite units as possible, and elite Cyborg Commandos will be the most treasured.

Now, the Commander is waiting for news from the forces that had been sent to the Dominion dig site near Backwater Station. Besides the extraction of the schematics of the psi emitter, the Commander had also been tasked by Kane to extract an ancient artifact from the dig site. It had been hours since the forces had been sent to the dig site, and now the Commander is beginning to feel that something is amiss.

"COMMANDER, I HAVE RECEIVED NEWS FROM OUR FORCES AT THE DIG SITE; INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."

A hologram projection of a Nod Confessor lights up in front of the control panel.

"Sir! We've got bad news sir! We're too late; the artifact's gone!"

"What? Tell me what is going on at the dig site!"

"Sir, we've arrived the dig site as you have ordered, sir! We find the Dominion base already destroyed, and the crane used for the extraction had already been raised! We've found bodies everywhere!"

"Hmm... it appears that someone else had taken away the artifact before us... soldier, about the bodies that you find in the scene, can you tell me what symbols are the dead bodies wearing?"

"I'm checking sir! Sir, we find most of the bodies bearing the symbol of the Dominion; but we do find a few dead Marines clad in blue armour and some kind of a non-Dominion symbol, I'm not sure what symbol does it belong to..."

'Hmm... no doubt that the mysterious symbol would belong to the culprit of the group that had extracted the artifact before us... looks like our mysterious guests had invaded into the dig site, kill the Dominion guards, and extracted the artifact using the crane at the dig site...' the Commander concludes mentally.

"LEGION! I want you to scan the symbol of the blue Marines found at the dig site! Find out who had taken the artifact away!"

"AFFIRMATIVE! ESTABLISHING UPLINK WITH A CYBORG AT THE DIG SITE... STANDBY... UPLINK ESTABLISHED... SCANNING IN PROCESS... STANDBY... SCAN COMPLETE... MATCHING SCAN IMAGE WITH DATABASE... STANDBY... MATCH FOUND! SCAN IMAGE MATCHES THE SYMBOL OF THE ANTI-DOMINION REBEL GROUP KNOWN PUBLICLY AS RAYNOR'S RAIDERS..."

"Raynor?"

The Commander is quite surprised to learn that it was the fabled outlaw Jim Raynor that had stolen the artifact. Still another surprise is waiting for the Commander.

"RECEIVING NEW MESSAGE FROM KANE... STANDBY... INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."

LEGION suddenly announces Kane's arrival, as another hologram projector of Kane lights up in front of the control panel.

"Sir!" the Commander immediately greets the supreme leader of the Brotherhood.

"At ease, my child! So tell me; I hope you have accomplished the two missions that I had given to you earlier, haven't you?"

"Yes sir! LEGION had successfully downloaded and obtained the schematics of the psi emitter as you have ordered! The schematics are now safely stored inside LEGION's memory!"

"Very good!"

"However sir, it is unfortunate but I do have a bad news for you! The artifact that you have spoken highly of had not been recovered! Someone had reached the dig site before us and took the artifact away!"

"Taken away? Have you checked who have taken the artifact away, Commander?"

"Yes, we did sir! LEGION had scanned and matched a symbol of a dead Marine found at the dig site. Match results have shown that it was the Raynor's Raiders who have been at the scene before us! We believe that it was Raynor's Raiders who had stolen the artifact sir!"

"Raynor's Raiders... ahhh... Jim Raynor, the unsung hero of the First Great War... it is most unfortunate indeed! Without that artifact, we would not be able to initiate our backup plan in the case when that queen of abomination finds out that we are trying to use her minions as tools for our war of ascension."

"Sir! I sincerely apologise for my failure, sir! Should I send out scouts to locate the hideout of Raynor's Raiders and let our forces to deal with them?"

"No! Leave them be! There is another cause of concern that is much more important than Mr. Raynor's ragtag team, one that I am trying to inform you right now!"

"What is it, sir?"

"The zergs are coming! Just a minute ago, the scout fleet surveying over Char had reported masses of zergs leaving Char before we'd lost contact with them. It seems that we have to push our plans forward earlier than we have expected!"

"But how sir? The Zerg Swarm had been inactive for 4 years! Why do they strike now?"

"I believe that the queen of abomination herself might have learnt the existence of the artifacts that we and Mr. Raynor had been seeking. She knew that the artifact would be her undoing, and she would do everything to stop that from happening! In a few hours time, the zergs would be invading and engulfing the entire Koprulu Sector, which will include Mar Sara. Commander, there is little time for us to spare! I want LEGION to begin manufacturing the psi emitters and place them in the Tiberium fields all across Mar Sara! We need the zergs to accept Tiberium if we are to ensure that the Tiberium will spread across the entire Koprulu Sector!"

"That wouldn't be a problem, sir; but what about the colonists sir? How should we deal with the local population?"

"Evacuate them to the underground vaults that I had ordered you to construct when we first arrived on Mar Sara. We need as many manpower as possible for our future campaigns."

"Then what about the Raynor's Raiders, and the artifacts?"

"If Mr. Raynor is after the artifacts too, there is no doubt that he would be going after the other fragments, scattered across the entire Koprulu Sector. We'll let the raiders to keep the artifacts for us in the mean time, and once he had gathered all the other fragments, we'll seize them back."

"But what if they perished in the zerg invasion?"

"Don't worry, my child; I believe that Mr. Raynor's resourcefulness would allow the raiders to escape from the clutches of the zergs. He had survived against the zergs before, and I believe that he would do it again. I have already planted a spy amongst their midst; the spy would report every bits of the raider's journeys to me, so we'll know when they had collected all the fragments, and where we can find them."

"That's a brilliant plan, sir!"

"Now, my child; you must hurry! Begin evacuating all the followers of Nod on Mar Sara into the underground vaults. Begin building the psi emitters and remember to plant them on the Tiberium fields. Time is short, and the fate of the Brotherhood is lying in your hands!"

"I won't fail you this time, sir!"

"You better don't, Commander! If you fail, it would be your death! Now go!"

With that, the transmission of the Commander with Kane ends. The Commander quickly turns towards and begins to give orders to his officers,

"Alright, everyone! You've heard the messiah! I want all of you to begin the evacuating all followers into the underground vaults! At every evacuation point, I want all of you to begin setting up bases and defences to facilitate the evacuations and defend them from the zergs! I would be in charge of commanding the evacuations in Mar Sara City! Is everyone clear?"

One of the junior officers raise up his hand in question,

"Err... sir, what about our fleet, sir? Should we call our fleet to defend the planet against the zergs while we are evacuating, sir?"

The Commander ponders for a moment; he feels that that junior officer is asking a good question indeed. Should he order _Jonah_ and his Nod fleet to hold off against the zergs too? After a brief moment of consideration, the Commander makes up his mind,

"No! Order _Jonah_ and the rest of the fleet to retreat back to Eden immediately! Our current fleet force would be of no match against a full scale zerg invasion! Using _Jonah_ and our fleet to hold off the zergs would be an unnecessary sacrifice! LEGION, I want you to order our fleet to retreat back to Eden immediately!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER!"

Just then, the same officer asks again,

"But sir! What if the evacuations fail? Or what if the zergs did not accept Tiberium? How would we be able to retreat if the fleet left us stranded on this planet?"

"Then we make sure that we must not fail! If we fail, we would perish; so make sure that you must succeed in this mission! Have faith with the messiah! If he says this plan would succeed, then we should never doubt him! Are you trying to question Kane's wisdom?"

"No sir! That's not what I mean!"

"If no, then get going! Our time is short! Everyone, get to your respective evacuation points, now!"

"Yes sir!" all the officers in the scene respond to the Commander's orders.

"COMMANDER, I HAVE FINISHED ANALYSING THE SCHEMATICS FOR THE TRANSPLANAR PSIONIC WAVEFORM EMITTER. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PSI EMITTERS WOULD BE GOING UNDERWAY IN SEVERAL UNDERGROUND FACTORIES, BUT IT WOULD TAKE SEVERAL HOURS FOR THE CONSTRUCTIONS TO FINISH. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE ZERGS WOULD ARRIVE MAR SARA BEFORE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PSI EMITTERS TO BE COMPLETE."

"If this is the case, then we'll have to defend the evacuations with our bases. Once the evacuations are done, we'll retreat underground. LEGION, when the psi emitters are finished, use the transport drills to transport the psi emitters up to the surface into the middle of the major Tiberium fields all across Mar Sara. Kane has spoken that most zergs would perish trying to embrace the Tiberium, but there would be at least some survivors if we attract all the zergs in Mar Sara and other neighbouring systems towards Tiberium."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... COMMANDER, _JONAH_ AND THE REST OF THE FLEET HAVE LEFT MAR SARA ORBIT AND ARE NOW HEADING BACK TO EDEN AS YOU HAVE ORDERED... WARNING, ZERG INVASION INBOUND IN... ONE HOUR!"

"LEGION, begin setting up defences in Mar Sara City; prepare for the zerg invasion. Get me into the battlefield control, now!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, ESTABLISHING BATTLEFIELD CONTROL, STANDBY... BATTLEFIELD CONTROL ONLINE... DEPLOYING MCV... DEPLOYMENT SUCCESSFUL, COMMANDER, STANDBY FOR YOUR NEXT ORDERS..."

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: The Beasts Return

The Second Great War has begun, as the Queen of Blades launch an extensive zerg invasion against the entire Koprulu Sector, including Mar Sara. Left stranded on the planet, Nod ground forces are going to hold off waves and waves of zerg assaults while evacuating all the followers on Mar Sara into the underground vaults. When the time has come, they are going to invite the zergs to the Tiberium fields, using their own psi emitters.

* * *

(1) I have to rename the Cyborg Reapers into Spider cyborgs, so as to avoid confusion with the Terran Reaper jump jet infantries in the future chapters. Besides, I think this new name fits them.

(2) The idea of the Infested Thor comes from the Starcraft comic, _Thundergod_. Yes, the Infested Terran piloting the Infested Thor is Sardin Forst, the Thor operator from the _Thundergod_ story. Refer to Starcraft wiki site for more details.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Saboteur

Role: All-terrain multi-role support infantry

Armament: Full body hazard suit, jump jets, Scalpel nano-repair arms, Booby Traps

Appearance: Similar to the C&C4 Nod Engineers, except with more futuristic look, and has a green bubble helm like the Saboteurs in C&C3

Despite their lack of body armour and standard weapons, Nod Saboteurs are one of the most important infantries in the Nod Army. These specially trained combat engineers are able to repair any mechanical units quickly with their Scalpel nano-repair arms. They have been trained to plant Booby Trap charges on any structures, organic or mechanical, friendly or hostile, so that any approaching enemy units that come too close to a Booby-trapped structure would be caught in a powerful explosion, which can heavily damage the target structure and surrounding enemy units as well. Like the generations of Nod Engineers before them, Saboteurs are trained to instantly repair friendly structures, capture enemy structures (not including Zerg structures), and reactivate walker husks, although the Saboteurs tasked with these missions would have to use up all their tools and stay to maintain the structure or walker, meaning that they would not be available for the entire rest of the mission. To make their missions easier, the Saboteurs are equipped with jump jets so that they can move across any types of terrains and elevations with ease like Terran Reapers. It has been warned that Saboteurs are very lightly armoured, so it is ill-advised to send them to their missions unescorted.

My Nod Unit Profile: Spider

Role: Specialised trapping infantry

Armament: Multi-Object Laser Dispersal System (MOLDS), Spinneret Synthetic Web sprayer, Mini-Obelisk of Darkness

Appearance: Similar to the Reaper cyborgs of the C&C4, complete with 4 insect-like mechanical legs and pincer-shaped laser cannon on the right arm. Left arm is armed with web sprayer, similar to those used by Cyborg Reapers of the Firestorm crisis. A Mini-Obelisk of Darkness is fitted at the back, giving it an appearance of an erect red horn on its back.

Continuation of the dreaded Reaper Cyborgs of the Firestorm Crisis and the Fourth Tiberium Wars, the Spider Cyborgs retain the features of both models of its predecessors. The Spider mainly gets its new name from its appearance and its ability to launch Synthetic Web against foes, which can bind and immobilise any enemy non-massive biological units, especially infantries and zergs. If targeted against biological air units such as Mutalisks, the Synthetic Web is able to capture and bring down the targeted air units to ground level, allowing other friendly ground units to attack them on the ground. The Synthetic Web is a small area of effect ability, and requires around a minute of cool-down period. The Spider's primary weapon is the MOLDS, which fires a powerful primary laser beam that disperses into smaller beams that strike other nearby targets once it hits the primary target (sort of like the Prism Tank attack in Red Alert 2). Spiders can also be upgraded with a Mini-Obelisk of Darkness on its back, allowing Spiders to shoot at air units with a slow firing but powerful laser beam. The Spider is less armoured and less durable compared to other cyborgs such as the Enlightened, and although its firepower is great, its slow rate of fire makes it vulnerable against attacks from massive number of enemy units.

My Nod Unit Profile: Cyborg Commando

Role: Hero unit

Armament: Gladius rapid-firing laser cannon, super-charged plasma cannon, Lazarus reactor

Appearance: Similar to the Cybernetic Commando of C&C4, with the addition of a plasma cannon on its left hand (the same weapon used by Cyborg Commandos of Tiberium Sun).

The most powerful type of cyborgs ever built by the Brotherhood, Cyborg Commandos are constructed from the most elite soldiers of the Brotherhood, who have either fallen in battle or volunteered to be reconstructed. Armed with a rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon, Cyborg Commandos are able to make short work out of any foes, ground or aerial, light or armoured. Their heavy armour and durable frame design allow them to best out against most opponents in a one-one face-off. Besides its Gladius cannon, the Cyborg Commando is also equipped with a super-charged plasma cannon and a stealth generator, which are both powered by a Lazarus reactor attached to the Cyborg Commando's back. The super-charged plasma cannon is a very powerful weapon that can instantly destroy most enemy units with one shot, but each of these shots can drain away more than half of the total amount of energy stored in its Lazarus reactor. The Lazarus reactor can be upgraded to charge up and store higher amount of energy for the Cyborg Commando.

Cyborg Commandos are very few in numbers, so few that every commander is only authorised to command up to one Cyborg Commando for every mission. There is a rumour stating that Cyborg Commandos are very rare because they can only be constructed from psionic individuals in the Brotherhood of Nod population.

* * *

My workload is now getting heavier and heavier each day, but I will still continue to do this story. For now, updates may be once per every month or so.

The Second Great War is about to begin in the next act, so stay tuned!


	11. Act 10: The Beasts Return

Sorry for the late update again, just being busy with a lot of stuff.

To R'N'Rer : Yes, you are right; the Saboteurs are capable of capturing Protoss structures as well. The reason is same to why GDI and Nod can capture Scrin structures in Tiberium Wars; the decryption program found in the Tacitus, which is now interfaced in LEGION. There will be a relationship between the Protoss and the Scrin, which will be revealed much later.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 10: THE BEASTS RETURN**

(Joeyray's Bar, Riksville, Mar Sara...)

"Sir, I've received some latest news from the locals, sir; not long ago, Nod soldiers had been sighted at the dig site where you guys had dug out that artifact near Backwater Station. They seemed to be looking for something, but left shortly after that. Apparently, they did not find what they were looking for."

Tray reports to his new superior, Jim Raynor, who is sitting down for another drink, with Tychus at his side.

"You said the Nod goons were at the dig site too? Damn they were so close by! I wonder what were they doing there?" Tychus remarks.

"Hmm... isn't that obvious, Tychus? What would you possibly gain from that dig site; the artifact of yours of course! The one that we had just unearthed! No wonder why these guys desperately try to take control of this planet, and why you suddenly came in and propose this deal. Damn you, Tychus! I should have known that there was something fishy about this deal!" Jim glares at his former buddy.

"Hey! I swear I know nothing about this Brotherhood of Nod, and those Moebius boys have never told me about them looking for those artifacts!" Tychus tries to defend himself.

"Oh yeah? Then do you call this a coincidence that those Nod guys are looking for the same thing that your Moebius boys want? If this is the case, I would rather dump that piece of junk and get out of here!"

"Hey, buddy! We have made a deal, do we? Surely there is another way out of this mess..."

Just then, Jim's adjutant makes a sudden announcement;

"ALERT! WARP ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED... ALL NOD SHIPS ARE LEAVING MAR SARA ORBIT..."

"Huh? The Nod goons are leaving?" Tychus asks, puzzled.

"Adjutant, are you sure that all the Nod forces have left the planet?" Jim asks.

"NEGATIVE! NOD GROUND FORCES ARE STILL ACTIVE ON THIS PLANET; ONLY THEIR SHIPS HAVE LEFT THE MAR SARA ORBIT... "

"Hmm... now that sounds strange; why do they order their ships to leave this planet, when they are risking possible invasion by the Dominion fleet?" Jim wonders.

"I don't know; but this is a good chance for us to get out of here, right? With those goons' ships out away from this orbit, we can make our escape through space and leave this piece of rock before that baldy's minions came looking for us." Tychus remarks.

Jim wonders for a moment. It is indeed strange that the Brotherhood would suddenly pull off their fleet away from Mar Sara orbit, leaving themselves stranded on this planet. Surely, this is an opportunity for Jim and his band of raiders to leave this rock by boarding the _Hyperion_, but Jim just cannot help but to wonder why the Nod forces choose to perform such an unorthodox move. Their leader had already threatened Arcturus Mengsk, and they should know that Mengsk would send another force to wipe them out at anytime. So why do they pull off their ships, when they need them to defend their newly conquered territory? If they want to retreat, they would have left together along with their ships, so why do the ground forces choose to stay here? What exactly are they planning?

"Adjutant, can you tell me what the Nod ground forces are currently doing?" Jim asks his adjutant again.

"NOD FORCES ARE CURRENTLY BUILDING UP BASES AT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. THEY ARE SETTING UP MANY DEFENCES ALONG CERTAIN SITES, AND THEY ARE GATHERING UP THE COLONISTS. NOD FORCES ALSO APPEAR TO BE PREPARING A LOT OF BURROWING TRANSPORTS."

"Hmm... sounds like the Nod forces are preparing for an evacuation, through underground." Tray points out.

"Good thinking, Tray; but the question is: from what?" Jim asks.

Then, the raiders get their answers, when warning buzzers from the adjutant suddenly sound out.

"_SIREN... _WARNING... WARP ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED... MULTIPLE ZERG BIOSIGNATURES DETECTED APPROACHING..."

The monitor screen shows Zerg Sacs beginning to plummet down onto Mar Sara surface, releasing terrestrial zergs as the Zerg Sacs burst once coming into contact onto the ground. Overlords and Mutalisks are beginning to descend into Mar Sara atmosphere.

"Now I see why they are evacuating..." Tychus comments.

"And why they pull off their ships! Somehow they know the zergs are coming, and they know that their current fleet forces are no match against a full-scale zerg invasion, so that's why they pull off their ships to avoid losing them against the zergs!" Jim also makes his comment.

"But wouldn't it leave their own ground forces stranded, sir? Even if they can avoid the zergs by hiding underground, there is no way for them to hide away from a zerg infestation forever by staying underground! They will definitely be slaughtered eventually!" Tray asks.

"I don't know what those Nod guys are currently planning now, Tray. The most important thing is now we have more reasons for us to get out of this planet immediately. Surely, Tychus, you don't tell me that zergs can be part of the occupational hazard for this deal, huh?" Jim replies, while staring at Tychus again with distaste.

"Hey! I swear I know nothing about the zergs too! The Moebius boys had never told me that the zergs were coming for those pieces of junks too. So quit staring me like that, okay?" Tychus defends himself.

"Adjutant, contact the _Hyperion_; ask Horner to steer the _Hyperion _to here for the evacuation of this whole town; tell him to get to here ASAP!" Jim orders.

"Sir, I would be contacting all the remaining Mar Sara Colonial Militia to gather up here to prepare for the evacuation!" Tray reports.

"Good! We'll need as many men as possible to hold off against the zergs before the _Hyperion_ arrives. Tray, call your militia to rendezvous here quick!"

"Yes sir!"

"Wait, what about the artifact?" Tychus asks.

"Alright, I will take the artifact along as well. Now, we'll just bring it to the evacuation point, which will be... here!" Jim replies.

"Sir, how are we going to hold off against the zergs?" Tray asks again.

Tray recalls his experience of having locked in combat against the zergs. To top it off, he never enjoys fighting those savage monsters during his days as a Marine. Zergs always attack en masse; their number are almost limitless, with one killed zerg always ready to be replaced by hundreds more. He also cannot forget the mighty claws and spines and other natural weapons wielded by the zergs. In fact, he did receive his scar above his left eyebrow when a Hydralisk spine almost took his head off.

"We'll be holding off the zergs using these two bridges..." Jim replies, pointing to two narrow bridges that will lead the path to Riksville.

"These two narrow bridges will make the zerg numbers meaningless, as long as we set up Bunkers to block off the entrance of each bridge. The rest of the perimeter will be laid down with Missile Turrets to hold off the Mutalisks. These should buy us enough time for the _Hyperion_ to arrive and get us out of here."

"Good idea, old buddy! So... let's get started, right?" Tychus remarks.

For the raiders, things are going to be hectic, as they join up with the Mar Sara Colonial Militia to prepare to defend themselves against waves of relentless zergs before the _Hyperion_ can arrive to pick them off.

* * *

(Mar Sara City...)

Sirens are wailing all across the city.

Not long ago, the orders of evacuation had been passed down across the entire colony, as the colony had been warned by the Brotherhood of Nod of the imminent zerg invasion.

Armoured Personnel Carriers (1) are carrying colonists from all neighbouring settlements into the capital city of Mar Sara City for the evacuation, into the underground vaults, which would be deep and safe enough to evade the zergs. In the centre of the Mar Sara City, in front of the Magistrate Building, a large tunnel entrance had been constructed overnight to allow the passage of these transports into an underground network that leads to the vaults.

While the evacuation is taking place, a huge transport drill bursts through the ground, releasing a large beetle-shaped quadruped walker before disappearing beneath the earth again. The huge walker walks towards in front of the Magistrate Building, close to a small patch of Tiberium field, before undergoing a series of conformational transformation. It's "body" settles onto the ground, with "legs" withdrawn into the "body". Its front opens up to reveal a gate, and a crane is deployed just outside of the gate.

A Nod MCV had just surfaced, and it had just deployed into a Nod Construction Yard, right in front of the Mar Sara Magistrate Building.

"NEW CONSTRUCTIONS OPTIONED..."

LEGION announces to the Commander, who is now standing in front of the battlefield control panel in the Magistrate Office.

With the successful deployment of the Nod MCV into a Nod Construction Yard, the Commander begins to take command of the base construction operation for the defence of the evacuation of the colonists.

"WARNING, ZERG INVASION INBOUND IN... 10 MINUTES!"

LEGION warns the about the remaining time left before the estimated arrival of the Zerg Swarm. Already, zergs have been falling from the skies onto other areas of Mar Sara. Soon, Mar Sara City is going to be another one of the invaded territories.

The Commander quickly wastes no time as he orders the construction of the Nod base and defences. The Nod Construction Yard begins its work, as its crane begins constructing and placing modular structures around itself. These modular structures then immediately unpack and deploy themselves into Nod military structures, which all have red and black colour scheme with Nod flag or symbol attached. The modular Power Plants are the first structures to be placed, followed by the Tiberium Refinery and the Hand of Nod. Next came in a few additional Cranes, and the War Factory and Operations Centre. With the construction of the main base completed, Nod automatic base defences begin to get placed around the perimeter of the central area of Mar Sara City, where the Magistrate Building and the base itself is located.

"WARNING, ZERG INVASION INBOUND IN... 5 MINUTES!"

With the zergs threatening to overrun the city soon, the Commander orders the deployment of several Nod Slave construction vehicles to the outer perimeter of the city. These Slaves begin to build up Outposts along the outer perimeter of the city, so that more Nod defences can be placed down.

Besides the placement of base defences, Nod units such as Devouts, Enlightened, Spiders, Saboteurs, Raiders, Attack Bikes, Scorpion Tanks and Reckoners are all guarding both the outer perimeter and the central base. Joining the actual Nod army in the defence of the evacuation operation are some volunteers of the colonist militia units, including Militants, Rocket Militants, Marines, Vultures, Goliaths and a few Arclite class Siege Tanks.

In the city itself, Nod infantries begin to fortify and garrison civilian structures scattered across the city. These garrisoned structures are further supported by patrolling vehicles.

"WARNING, ZERG INVASION INBOUND IN... 1 MINUTE!"

All the Armoured Personnel Carriers carrying colonists to Mar Sara City have arrived the evacuation site at the base, but since the tunnel is only wide enough for one Armoured Personnel Carrier to drive through, it will take some time before all the transports can enter into the tunnel.

"COMMANDER, ALL TRANSPORTS DESIGNATED FOR MAR SARA CITY HAD ARRIVED! IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE ENTIRE EVACUATION OPERATION WOULD BE COMPLETE IN... 30 MINUTES!"

"Good! We'll just need to hold off the zergs for 30 minutes. After the evacuation is complete, the rest of our forces will just need to retreat underground too. LEGION, how much time left for the psi emitters to be ready?"

"THE CONSTRUCTION OF ALL PSI EMITTERS ARE GOING ALONG WELL... IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THEY WILL BE READY FOR DEPLOYMENT IN... 35 MINUTES!"

"Good! This means that shortly after we have retreated underground, we can begin deploying the psi emitters and lure the zergs to the Tiberium fields... perfect!"

"COMMANDER, THE BLACK HAND ELITE HEAVY INFANTRIES HAVE ARRIVED AND ARE NOW READY FOR BATTLE, THEY ARE ALL YOURS TO COMMAND! YOU CAN NOW TRAIN MORE BLACK HANDS AT THE HAND OF NOD!"

"Excellent! LEGION, relay my orders to tell all Black Hands to report at their designated areas..."

* * *

"The Black Hand has arrived!"

Numerous soldiers march along the roads of Mar Sara City, heading towards their designated guarding areas. These soldiers are dressed in massive black and red armour as big as those of Dominion's Marauder CMC-660 heavy armour suit. Their helmets cover the entire head of the soldier, with three red horizontal visors to give them an insect-like facial appearance. They carry two fuel tanks on their backs, which are connected to a massive flamethrower carried by both hands. Stamped on the chest of their armour, bears a black and red hexagon with a black hand print stamped within.

These are Black Hands, elite fanatics and heavy infantries that enforce the rule of the Brotherhood with an iron fist. They are also elite shock infantries that are trained to combat enemies of the Brotherhood in close range using their Purifier flamethrowers and Holy Water Grenade.

The Black Hands arrive in their respective hold out positions, reinforcing the defence lines of the city. Confident with their heavy armour, the Black Hands stand at the most forward positions, along with Enlightened cyborgs that have already deployed their energy shields. Scorpion Tanks, Reckoners, Goliaths and other lighter infantries stand directly behind the heavy infantry lines. At the most rear of the defence lines, are the few remaining Arclite class Siege Tanks in their siege modes, protected by more Reckoners, Goliaths, Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes, Marines and Devouts. These rear defence lines are also reinforced with static base defences and outposts, supported and maintained by Saboteurs and Slave construction vehicles. All these Nod defenders share a common goal; to hold off the zerg invasion before the evacuations could be finished.

* * *

"WARNING! ZERG INVASION INBOUND IN... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

* * *

(At the outer defence perimeter of Mar Sara City...)

Large, organic Zerg Sacs can be seen free-falling from the skies, dropping onto several locations far away from the city perimeter. For the defenders of Mar Sara City, this signifies the arrival of their enemies in this battle: the Zerg Swarm.

"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED!"

The first wave of zergs begins to advance towards the city perimeter, threatening to overrun the city. This first wave consists of only Zerglings; tens to hundreds of Zerglings. Crying out loud in their high pitch screeches, the swarm of Zerglings scurry towards the outer defence line along the city perimeter.

The Enlightened immediately hoist up their shields while firing off their 70mm Centurion shells, while the Black Hands spray their deadly Purifier flamethrower towards the attacking Zerglings. Arclite Siege Tanks rain down plasma shells from afar, as the other defenders begin to fire off their respective weapons. The Zerglings are immediately annihilated by these attacks. Plasma shells paint the ground with Zergling blood, while most of them are burnt down into smouldering ashes by the flames of the Black Hand. Some are caught by the Synthetic Web of the Spiders, making them easy targets for the other defenders to finish off. A few Zerglings manage to get their claws at the Enlightened, only to be halted by the Enlightened energy shields. There, pop-out turrets of some kind emerge from beneath the ground, and fire rapid bursts of laser at the Zerglings, zapping them into ashes.

These turrets look a lot different from the pop-out Sentry Guns or Perdition Turrets employed by the other Terran factions. They are round and sloped, with a single cannon mounted on a stand. These are Viper Laser Cannons; cheap, short-ranged rapid-firing laser cannons that can effectively deal with any enemy ground units, regardless whether they are light or armoured, biological or mechanical.

The Black Hands maintain their spray of fire at the Zerglings. Unlike the Dominion Firebat heavy infantries, which spew dual Perdition flamethrowers in short, powerful bursts of flame, the Black Hands' Purifier flamethrowers spray flames in a continuous stream, making them more destructive in a long run. Thanks to the advanced systems that carefully calculate and control fuel usage in their fuel tanks, these Black Hands are able to engage with their enemies for hours without exhausting their fuel tanks. Then, some of the Black Hands begin to overlap their streams of flame with one another, creating a destructive firestorm that instantly incinerates any Zerglings that come too close.

In less than one minute, the first wave of Zerglings has been annihilated, mostly from the destructive flames and firestorms by the Black Hands. So far, the Brotherhood has not suffered any casualties... yet.

* * *

Soon, a second wave of zergs begins to press towards the outer defence perimeter. Behind the piles of blasted and burnt Zergling carcasses, another swarm of zergs can be sighted rushing towards the Nod defenders. This wave is made up of another tens and hundreds of Zerglings, accompanied with Hydralisks.

As the second wave begins to close in, Hydralisks begin to launch their volleys of spines at bullet speed towards the Nod defence line. Once again, Enlightened shields are raised to block off the incoming spines from harming the other Nod units. At the same time, Black Hands continue to spray flames at the Zerglings that try to approach the defence perimeter. Arclite Siege Tanks continue to pound plasma shells from afar onto the zerg cluster, mainly against the Hydralisks. Viper Laser Turrets pop-out from beneath the ground and zap the zergs into charred remains. More Synthetic Webs are fired off from the Spiders, trapping more zergs under the extremely adhesive web. The second wave of zergs is instantly wiped out like the previous wave.

This time though, some of the defending Nod turrets are damaged by some stray Hydralisk spines. Still the damages are instantly fixed by the Slaves.

However, as soon as the last charred remains of a Hydralisk slump onto the ground, a third wave is sighted. The third wave consists of even more Zerglings and Hydralisks, approximately twice the number from the second wave. Once again, Arclite Siege Tanks bombard at the zerg clusters from afar, spilling out zerg blood and insides. Enlightened raise up their shields to block off incoming Hydralisk spines while shooting back with their cannons. Black Hands purge the large number of Zerglings with their flamethrowers. Spiders shoot out some more Synthetic Web to immobilise the zergs so that the Viper Laser Turrets and other Nod units can finish them off. Again, the third wave of zergs have been quickly wipe out, but the first sign that the Nod defenders are going to have some trouble holding off the zergs begins to show, when some of the Enlightened shields are nearly depleted.

* * *

"WARNING! ENEMY AIR UNITS DETECTED!"

The sky is suddenly filled with loud, high-pitch screeches. The Nod defenders look up to see a huge swarm of aerial zergs. These zergs are worm-shaped with a single pair of membranous wings. Their bodies are curled up in a C-shape, and their heads show 8 eyes and mandibles. Their anus are lined with 4 fang-like protrusions. Immediately, the Nod forces recognise this fourth wave of zergs: Mutalisks!

Almost immediately, Rocket Militants, Devouts, Marines, Spiders, Raiders, Attack Bikes, Goliaths and Scorpion Tanks begin to fire their respective weapons into the sky. At the same time, a second set of pop-out turrets emerge from beneath the ground. This second set of pop-out turrets consists of turrets armed with 3 rocket pods each; they are the latest Nod's design of the SAM Site.

Volleys of long range SAMs are instantly fired from the SAM Sites. These SAMs quickly track down the heat signatures given off by the Mutalisks, striking and killing them despite the Mutalisks' best efforts to try to outmanoeuvre the SAMs. Gausse weapon rounds, rockets and lasers from other Nod units also raise the Mutalisk casualties.

Still, the attacking Zerg Mutalisks are not going to easily back down without a fight. Despite the barrage of weapon fire into the sky, most Mutalisks manage to close in towards the city defence perimeter. They begin to belch out glaive wurms onto the Nod defenders, which randomly bounce and strike onto multiple targets. With the attack from the sky, this time the Enlightened shields have been proven to be useless against such aerial assault. Bouncing in a random direction, each glaive wurm does some damage by cutting anything that it touches, before coming into a halt after striking at most 3 targets. Some Militants, Devouts and Marines are quickly killed in this manner, as glaive wurms can be seen impaling right into some of these fallen infantries' chest or head.

Despite the Mutalisk assault, the other Nod defenders continue to press on their counter-attacks onto the Mutalisks. Fortunately enough, the armour of the cyborgs, the Black Hands, the vehicles and the SAM sites are strong enough to withstand the glaive wurm attacks. Some of the Spiders begin to counter the flying Mutalisks by "webbing" them. The ensnared zergs are quickly brought onto the ground as their wings get entangled by the web, allowing Black Hands, Siege Tanks and Viper turrets to finish them off as well. After a brief combat, all the Mutalisks in this wave are cleared out of the skies. Saboteurs and Slaves begin to repair the damages done.

* * *

"COMMANDER, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE EVACUATION OPERATION WOULD BE COMPLETE IN... 20 MINUTES!"

A few minutes after the Mutalisk swarm had been brought down, the Nod defenders stationing at the city outer perimeter begin to spot more ground zergs rushing in. More Zerg Sacs are also dropping down from the skies, releasing even more zergs as they plummet to the ground. This wave of zergs consist of mainly Zerglings and Hydralisks, as well as Roaches.

Roaches are considered to be one of the newest breed of zergs to be discovered, yet they are already widely feared for their durability and enhanced health regeneration rate, which give them their names. The Roaches are also known for their uncanny ability to burrow across the ground like the Nod's subterranean vehicles. They are also feared for their acid saliva, which is said to be corrosive enough to melt through tank armour.

Some of the militant volunteers and standard Devouts are beginning to show signs of fear when seeing this wave of Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches. At the most front line, however, the elitist formation of Black Hands and the fearless Enlightened cyborgs continue to stand their grounds. While the Siege Tanks continue to rain plasma shells onto the zerg cluster, the Black Hands and the Enlightened begin to combat the zergs at close range. Hydralisk spines and acid saliva begin striking onto the Enlightened shields, which are now steadily depleting in power. In fact, some of the Enlightened shields have been fully depleted, and the Enlightened and Black Hands themselves are beginning to take damage. Luckily, the support of Saboteurs nano-repair skills is keeping the Enlightened online. Support fire by the Viper turrets, Spider Synthetic Web, and other Nod defending units are keeping the zergs off.

Zerglings have been burnt into crisps, Hydralisks are blasted into bloody pieces, and the Roaches have their shells cracked open by cannon and laser fire. After a brief minute of combat, the Nod defenders are victorious again. Saboteurs and Slaves continue to repair damages. However, the wounds taken by the Militants, Marines, Devouts and Black Hands can never be repaired.

"WARNING! ENEMY AIR UNITS DETECTED!"

The Nod defenders look up into the sky again, only to see another flock of Multalisks swooping in. This time, however, there is a herd of jellyfish-like Zerg Overlords following behind. Anti-air fire begin to shower upon the aerial zergs, bringing down lots of Mutalisks. Some of the slow moving Overlords have also been burst in the air by SAMs like a bloody balloon popping, spewing out blood, internal organs, limbs and some smaller zergs that they are transporting.

Realising that the Overlords are trying to transport some of the ground zergs in order to perform a doom drop, the Nod defenders begin to concentrate their fire against the Overlords. This, however, gives the Mutalisks a chance to strike back at defence line. More Militants, Marines and Devouts have been fallen in this way. One of the glaive wurm strikes into a crack behind one Black Hand's fuel tank, causing a small explosion that blows up and kills the Black Hand. Some of the Saboteurs that try to repair the damages have also got hit and killed by the glaive wurms. Still, the infantries garrisoned inside the deployed Reckoners continue to shoot down Mutalisks. Spiders also spray Synthetic Web at the Mutalisks, stopping them from belching out anymore glaive wurms and allowing the Black Hands, Enlightened and Viper turrets to finish off the pesky fliers. When the last Mutalisk has been finished off, all the Overlords have been brought down too. The doomsday drop has been successfully halted, as the Overlords only manage to drop in a few Zerglings and Hydralisks, which are quickly gotten rid of.

So far, the Nod outer defence perimeter are holding off the zergs well, but the question is how much longer. Some of the supporting Saboteurs have been lost, reducing the repair rate on the defending cyborgs, vehicles and structures. Without the shielding by the Enlightened, the infantry casualties are mounting, which include some Black Hands as well. Who knows how long will this line holds... ...

* * *

(Back in the central base, in front of Mar Sara Magistrate Building...)

"COMMANDER, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE EVACUATION OPERATION WILL BE COMPLETE IN... 15 MINUTES!"

While the evacuation continues, the Nod base is constantly training and building more troops to support the defence lines. Nod Harvesters are gathering Tiberium crystals from the nearby Tiberium field, collecting and bringing them to the Tiberium Refinery, where the Tiberium crystals would be melted and the resource contents extracted to fund this operation. This Refinery is fully automatic, and the toxic fumes released from the melting process would be isolated into a separate chamber for a complex detoxification process before released into the air through the chimneys as a green but non-toxic fume.

The Hand of Nod structures are training more Nod infantries and cyborgs, as more of these infantries exit the short, elongated building with an erect arm-shaped tower that holds a bright red sphere in the "hand". The flattened, subterranean War Factories continue to release more vehicles, which exit through a subterranean gate that will be raised up when the vehicles are ready. The Operations Centre is providing upgrades for the infantry weapons and armour, as well as launching radar jamming missiles to disrupt the zerg sensory organs for brief periods.

* * *

(Back in the city outer defence perimeter...)

"WARNING, SEISMIC ACTIVITIES DETECTED!"

Suddenly, massive worm-like creatures burst through from beneath the ground. These worms are enormous, even bigger than the notorious Ultralisks. The worms make a high-pitched roar, before belching out more terrestrial zergs from their cavern-like mouth. They are the Nydus Worms, believed to have evolved from the Zerg Nydus Canal organs during the First Great War.

The Nod defenders immediately fire at the zergs exiting from the Nydus Worms. More zerg bodies pile up as the zergs fall under the heavy defensive fire by the Nod defences. At the same time, Siege Tanks begin to target the Nydus Worms themselves. After several shellings from the Nod Siege Tanks, the Nydus Worms begin to die from their severe wounds, bellowing out in a dying breath, and slumping onto the ground, before their heads disappear deep beneath into the underground.

Just then, another wave of Mutalisks swoop upon the Nod defenders. This time, however, the Mutalisks fly straight towards the Siege Tank columns. Glaive wurms rain upon the Siege Tanks, cracking open the fuselage. Before the anti-air defences can react, half of the Arclite Siege Tanks are already taken out of action, leaving useless wreckages. While the Nod anti-air defences are dealing with the Mutalisks, more Nydus Worms burst though from beneath the earth, right within the defence line. The Nydus Worms release more Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches, which begin to take the fight to the Nod defenders at close range. While the Black Hands, Enlightened, Spiders, Reckoners and Viper Laser Cannons can deal with the zerg threat up close, the rest of the Nod units begin to have difficulty combating masses of zergs up close, especially the Siege Tanks. Militants, Devouts and Marines are either overrun by the Zerglings or liquefied by the Roaches' acid saliva; Zerglings surround and break into the vehicles, tearing the pilots apart inside; some of the vehicles are taken out of commission by the armour-piercing spines of Hydralisks. Still, the Black Hands are able to incinerate all of the Zerglings; Spiders capturing a bulk of the zergs with their Synthetic Web and wiping them out in bulk using their MOLDS dispersing lasers; Enlightened blasting through the shells of the Roaches; Viper turrets zapping Hydralisks into crisps with accurate shots; SAM Sites taking out all the Mutalisks; and infantries inside Reckoners killing and sealing off the Nydus Worms. After a few minutes of intense combat, the zerg wave has been beaten off again, but the casualties are huge this time; all of the remaining Nod Arclite Siege Tanks have been destroyed, with massive losses of Vultures, Raiders, Attack Bikes, Goliaths, Scorpion Tanks and infantries. Most of the Saboteurs are also lost in this attack, as well as a few Slaves, further compromising the repair capability to this defence line. Right now, only a few Slaves, Black Hands, cyborgs, Reckoners and defence turrets remain to protect the city outer perimeter defence line.

"ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED! WARNING, ENEMY ZERG BANELINGS DETECTED!"

A few minutes after the intense close combat with the zergs, another wave of zergs can be seen approaching the Nod outer defence line. This time, the wave of Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches is spearheaded by packs of rolling Banelings. Like the Roaches, the Baneling is another new breed of zergs that are recently discovered. Originally thought to be an entirely different breed, it is now widely known that the Baneling is an evolved form of a Zergling that is bred to blast through strong defensive lines with its large volumes of caustic acid stored within its body, giving it a fat, green maggot-like appearance.

Realising the Baneling threat, the Nod defenders quickly target the rolling Banelings as their primary target. All fire are focused onto the Banelings, in which killed Banelings are instantly burst like an acid ballon, spilling acids onto the other nearby zergs, including other Banelings. As a result, a chain explosion of Banelings occur, happening to wipe out some unfortunate zergs that happen to stay too close to the Baneling cluster. In less than a minute, this particular wave of zergs is instantly removed out of the equation.

"WARNING! ENEMY AIR UNITS DETECTED!"

Before the Nod defenders can take a break though, more Mutalisks begin swooping in towards the Nod defence line. SAM Sites quickly launch heat-seeking SAMs at the Mutalisks, while other anti-air fire blaze on. While the Nod defenders are busy fighting off the Mutalisks, another warning suddenly sounds out,

"WARNING! SEISMIC ACTIVITIES DETECTED..."

Before LEGION's warning finishes, several Nydus Worms emerge from beneath the grounds within the defence line itself. Black Hands, Enlightened and Viper turrets, which are not combating the Mutalisks at the moment, begin to attack the Nydus Worms. A few of the worms get incinerated the moment when they emerge, but others manage to release their load of zergs at the Nod forces.

Unfortunately for the Nod defenders, Banelings are part of the Nydus network passengers this time. Before the Nod defenders can react against the sudden Baneling intrusion through the Nydus Worms, a wave of Banelings manage to close up to the group of Black Hands and detonates, spewing caustic acid across the field. Despite their heavy armour, the acid quickly eats through the Black Hands and liquefy them in a painful manner. Some Black Hands have their fuel tanks covered with the Baneling acid, causing a violent chemical explosion that blows up the back of the Black Hand, leaving burnt remains of the once mighty soldier. With the Black Hands taken out, Zerglings begin to rush towards the cyborgs. While some of the Zerglings find themselves caught in the Synthetic Web launched by the Spiders, others begin to pounce onto the cyborgs. The cyborgs try to muscle their way out, but they are no match against the sheer numbers of Zerglings, which begin to claw their way through the cyborgs' armour. Most of the Spiders fall onto the ground and taken out offline, while some of the Enlightened try to even the odds by overloading their reactor cores to take out the bulk of the Zerglings along with themselves. It works anyway, as the Zerglings are immediately reduced to tiny pieces of flesh in this way. Hydralisks and Roaches also begin to exit from the Nydus Worms, and they are starting to target the rest of the Nod defenders at the outer defence perimeter line. With little energy left to sustain their energy shields, and with most Saboteurs and Slaves taken out by Mutalisk attacks, the remaining Enlightened begin to fall against the barrage of spines and acid saliva. They also begin to attack the Reckoners and the turrets. Still the Nod forces manage to prevail, as some of the critically damaged Enlightened manage to perform their own kamikaze move by crawling their way towards the medium-sized zergs, before detonating their reactor cores and killing the bulk of the zerg army. The Reckoners, in their deployed bunker form, and the turrets successfully hold off the rest of the zerg assault, along with the Nydus Worms.

* * *

(Back in the central base...)

"COMMANDER, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE EVACUATION OPERATION WILL BE COMPLETE IN... 10 MINUTES!"

"LEGION, how's our defences holding?"

"THE ZERG FORCES HAVE SUFFERED SEVERE CASUALTIES AND HAVE YET TO PENETRATE THROUGH THE OUTER CITY DEFENCE PERIMETER; HOWEVER, OUR FORCES AT THE OUTER DEFENCE PERIMETER HAVE SUFFERED SEVERE CASUALTIES OF OUR OWN. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE OUTER CITY DEFENCE PERIMETER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD OFF THE NEXT WAVE OF ZERG ASSAULT..."

"Hmm... if that's the case... then we would have no choice but to take the fight with the zergs into the city itself. LEGION, order our remaining forces that are still guarding the outer city perimeter to retreat into the city; order the infantries to garrison all civilian structures in the city; get some vehicles to patrol around the streets; and mine the roads! I want the zergs to be held off before the evacuation could be complete!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... COMMANDER, RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM KANE, STAND BY..."

A hologram projection of Kane appears in front of the Commander, who quickly greets back to the great prophet.

"So... my son... how's the defence of Mar Sara City going on?"

"So far, it is going well, sir! It would be another 10 minutes before the evacuation operation can be completed. After all our followers have been evacuated, we can proceed to plant the psi emitters on all the major Tiberium fields across Mar Sara. However, the outer defence perimeter for this city is near breaking point, and we believe that the next wave of zergs would eventually breach through this outer defence line. Currently, I am withdrawing all units at the outer defence perimeter to entrench themselves deeper into the city. We have already garrisoned all neutral structures in the city, and have sent out multiple units to patrol the streets. We are confident that we can hold off the zergs before the evacuation is complete."

"Glad to hear that, Commander. Still, I cannot help but to worry that whether these defences would be enough to hold off a full frontal zerg assault. Commander, you must make sure that the beasts would not intrude into our underground vaults! I am now sending the schematics of our latest Flame Tank designs to you, use them wisely!"

"I am honoured, sir, to be given the honour to test our newest Flame Tanks against the beasts! I am sure with these Flame Tanks, we can easily purge the beasts and hold off their assault!"

"I hope you can uphold your honour, my child. Do not fail me!"

"I won't!"

The hologram projection of Kane flickers away, signifying the end of the transmission. Just then, LEGION makes another announcement,

"COMMANDER, KANE HAS SENT US THE SCHEMATICS OF THE NEWEST DESIGN OF FLAME TANKS; WE CAN NOW TRAIN ADDITIONAL FLAME TANKS AT OUT WAR FACTORIES."

"Excellent! LEGION, begin training these new Flame Tanks and quickly get them to patrol the streets. We would need their firepower to cleanse the zergs."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... TRAINING..."

* * *

(A few minutes later, in the streets of Mar Sara City...)

A swarm of zergs begin its march into the capital city of Mar Sara, determined to wipe out all signs of life in this city.

Just minutes ago, the order to retreat further into the city had been passed on to the Nod defending troops stationed at the city's outer defence perimeter. Following suit, the troops quickly pulled out from the outer defence line, while the defence turrets and outposts were sold so that the refunds can be used to recruit more units. Without the city outer defence perimeter, the next wave of zergs was able to enter into the city without facing much resistance.

However, these zergs would soon find themselves in an even tougher battlefield. As the swarm of Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches move deeper into the city streets, many of them fall victim to spider mine ambush. For those zergs that manage to evade the Nod spider mines, they quickly fall to the gunfire and rockets, all fired from the Nod infantries garrisoning inside the civilian structures. By hiding safely inside the civilian buildings, the garrisoned infantries easily wipe out all the invading zergs in the city.

"WARNING! SEISMIC ACTIVITIES DETECTED!"

Just then, more Nydus Worms burst out from the ground, right inside the city. At the same time, high-pitched screeches can be heard from the sky, signifying the approach of another wave of Mutalisks. Very quickly, the Nod infantries find themselves busy shooting at the Mutalisks and a large number of zergs pouring out from the cavernous mouth of the Nydus Worms. Patrolling Vultures, Raiders and Attack Bikes also participate in engaging the zergs in deadly hit-and-run strikes. Some of the zergs are also caught off guard when they fall victim to Reckoners' subterranean strikes. Bodies of dead zergs begin to pile up across the streets of Mar Sara City.

Still, the zerg assault does not stop coming. Instead, the number of zergs pouring into city is increasing exponentially. Zergs are now entering into city through land, air and underground via the Nydus Worms, nonstop. Even with the death of one worm, another one would quickly take its place. For every zerg killed, another dozen more will quickly take over its place.

* * *

(Back in the central base...)

"COMMANDER, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE EVACUATION OPERATION WILL BE COMPLETE IN... 5 MINUTES!"

"LEGION, how is our forces dealing with the zergs inside the city?"

"OUR FORCES ARE CURRENTLY HOLDING OFF AGAINST THE ZERG ONSLAUGHT SUCCESSFULLY. HOWEVER, THE ZERGS ARE ADVANCING FASTER THAN WE HAVE PREDICTED. WE HAVE LOST 50% OF OUR FIGHTING FORCES TO THE ZERGS, AND WE HAVE LOST 65% OF GROUND CONTROL OF THE CITY TO THE ZERGS. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT AT THIS RATE, THE ZERGS WOULD BE OVERRUNNING US IN LESS THAN 5 MINUTES."

"We cannot let that occur! LEGION, deploy the Flame Tanks now. I want half of them to station in the central base, and the other half to hold off the zerg onslaught."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER!"

* * *

(Back in the streets of Mar Sara City...)

"WWWAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH..."

The dying scream of a Nod Devout echoes across the streets, as the unlucky Devout gets eaten alive by a pack of ravenous Zerglings.

Despite the heavy defences scattered across inside the city, the zergs are slowly overrunning the Nod forces. Creep is beginning to cover the outer areas of the city, as Zerg Sacs carrying Creep Tumour crash onto certain areas of the city. Zerg defence crawlers have established foothold on some of the road junctions that are covered with creep. Many of the patrolling Nod vehicles have been thrashed by these Zerg Spine Crawlers as a result. Spider mines have been used up, and half of the total number of civilian structures in the city are now in smoking ruins. Nydus Worms that are not killed in the scene continue to belch out Zerglings, Hydralisks, Roaches and Banelings out as if there is a limitless number of zergs available for combat. Mutalisks roam the skies, opposed only by long range SAMs launched by SAM Sites in the central base.

A wave of Zerglings is about to scurry towards the direction of the central base. As they reach towards a road junction, however, they quickly encounter some resistance by some Nod garrisoned civilian structures that are still not destroyed yet. Before the Zerglings can reach these structures and claw their way inside, a team of Black Hands charge towards them. Spewing flames at the Zerglings, the Black Hands halt the Zergling advance.

As more Zerglings try to rush in to kill off the Black Hands, a rumbling engine sound of a vehicle can be heard, approaching towards the site of conflict. The Black Hands look back and feel relieved, as they see their much needed reinforcements arriving to give the zergs a nasty surprise.

"The flames would rise!"

Arriving to assist the Nod defenders, are 2 strangely built two-threaded tanks. The tanks are travelling side-by-side, allowing them to block an entire street in between of two buildings. Each of these tanks is box-shaped with a large turret that is as wide and as long as the tank itself. The turrets are not the conventional cannon turret type, but rather resemble to those of Terran Perdition Turret with reinforced fuel tanks housed at the rear of the turret. Like other Nod vehicles, these tanks are coloured black and red, with Nod symbols painted at the side and on the fuel tanks of the vehicle.

These are the newest design of Nod Flame Tanks, the most feared Nod anti-personnel arsenal ever created by the Brotherhood.

Not knowing the danger of these box-shaped tanks, the Zerglings rush recklessly towards the Flame Tanks, intending to overrun the tank and get inside to feed on the crew like what they had previously done to the Scorpion Tanks. Unfortunately for the Zerglings, the Flame Tanks are nothing like the Scorpion Tanks. With a quick fiery burst, the twin Devil's Tongue Flamethrowers of the 2 Flame Tanks immediately engulf the entire Zergling cluster in a firestorm, instantly incinerating the Zerglings into cinders. A few Zerglings at the rear of the cluster manage to avoid the fire, but are quickly picked off by the Black Hands and the garrisoned Nod infantries.

Just then, another wave of zergs try to take on the Flame Tanks. A wave of Zerglings and Hydralisks advance towards the chokepoint set by the Flame Tanks. Some of the Hydralisks begin to launch their spines at the Flame Tanks, puncturing parts of the Flame Tank fuselage. Still, the Flame Tanks deal with the threat with absolute calmness, as they systematically incinerate the entire Zergling cluster in a single burst of their flames, before advancing towards the Hydralisks and do the same to them. The firestorm produced from the Flame Tanks are so fiery, that even the Hydralisks are instantly reduced into ashes in just a few bursts of flames by the Flame Tanks.

Mutalisks begin to fly in and try to attack the Flame Tanks, but are halted by a group of Raiders protecting at the rear of the Flame Tanks. At the same time, more terrestrial zergs approach the chokepoint, this time spearheaded by Banelings. Still, the result is the same; as the Banelings are instantly boiled by the flames before they can even get close enough to the Flame Tanks.

Later, the 2 Flame Tanks are quickly joined by another 2 additional Flame Tanks. Confident with safety in numbers, the 4 Flame Tanks begin to advance. On their way, they burnt down countless numbers of zergs of different sizes. Zerglings, Hydralisks and Banelings perish the fastest under their flames, while it takes more bursts of fire to burn down the armoured Roaches. Even the enormous Nydus Worms are not safe from their flames, as these worms are quickly burnt to the ground alive by the tanks' firestorm.

The flame tanks resume their path of destruction, when they begin to encroach a road junction that is covered with creep. Suddenly, 2 Spine Crawlers appear in their sight. With split second reaction, the Spine Crawlers, already rooted to the ground, begin to attack the Flame Tanks by extending their clawed tentacles to impale the Nod tanks. Before the Flame Tanks can react, one of the Spine Crawler punches a big hole through the fuselage of one of the previously damaged Flame Tanks. The hole causes the fuel of the damaged Flame Tank to leak profusely; and when the second Spine Crawler hits, a spark is created, causing the fuel to ignite spontaneously. The result: a violent explosion that blasts the turret of the Flame Tank completely into tiny burning pieces, leaving only twisted threads and other small parts. The shockwave of the explosion dents the armour of the other 3 remaining Flame Tanks, but does little to stop their advance. The 3 Flame Tanks close in onto the Spine Crawlers and quickly let loose of their twin Devil's Tongue Flamethrowers, incinerating the Spine Crawlers before they can retaliate back.

"WARNING! ENEMY AIR UNITS DETECTED!"

For the Nod's newest arsenal, this is the worst type of threat they would have encountered. Like the Black Hands and other flame weapons, the Flame Tanks have completely no defence against aerial threats, such as a swarm of Mutalisks that are now swooping in at their position. Knowing that they would be no match against the flying zergs, the Flame Tanks immediately make their retreat back to base.

On their way retreating, the Mutalisks rain down glaive wurms onto the tanks, scraping and denting the tanks' armour. Before the Flame Tanks can reach for the safety of the anti-air support fire, one of the Flame Tanks burst into a ball of fire when a glaive wurm ruptures its reinforced fuel tank. A ball of fire from the exploding Flame Tank lands on the leaking fuel tank of another adjacent Flame Tanks, triggering another explosion that takes out the unfortunate tank as well. Only one severely damaged Flame Tank manage to reach to the safety of the base as anti-air fire takes out the marauding Mutalisks.

* * *

"COMMANDER, THE LAST ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIER IS ENTERING THE TUNNEL... IT IS ESTIMATED THAT IT WOULD REACH THE VAULTS IN... 1 MINUTE!"

"Good! We're almost there! LEGION, relay orders to the remaining troops inside the city; order them to retreat back to base immediately; prepare my personal Reckoner; we're leaving!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER!"

* * *

(Mar Sara City central Nod base...)

After the last Armoured Personnel Carrier has entered into the tunnel, the Nod units are beginning to follow suit as well. To speed up the evacuation of the troops, transport drills are also sent up to the surface to transport some of the vehicles back into the underground vaults, while some of the infantries have been loaded by the burrowing Reckoners. Scorpion Tanks also choose to escape by directly burrowing into the underground network. The Construction Yard has been redeployed back into MCV, which proceeds to enter into a transport drill for evacuation. Harvesters and Slaves also proceed to enter into the tunnel. In the end, the base has been left vacant, leaving only a huge wall of defensive turrets to hold the line, powered by the modular Power Plants that are still left around the base.

As the Nod troops pull out into the underground, zergs begin to pursue the fleeing Nod forces. However, the zergs are immediately stopped by the wall of defence turrets. Pop-out Viper Laser Turrets reduce the waves of ground zergs into piles of carcasses, while SAM Sites shoot down aerial zergs like swatting down flies.

A third type of turrets is also present in this wall of Nod defences. The third type of turrets are the Flame Columns; a sturdier type of non-pop-out turret that houses a rotating Pyradon firebomb cannon at the top, and a close range Purifier flamethrower.

With more zergs closing in, the Flame Columns join the array of Nod base defences to hold off the zerg assault before the entire Nod forces can retreat back into their hidden underground vaults. Firebombs are lobbed towards the zerg clusters, instantly incinerating Hydralisks that are trying to launch their spines from a distance. Zerglings and Banelings that try to close in to the Flame Columns are quickly greeted with a douse of Purifier flamethrower. While charred bodies of zergs pile up in front of the Flame Columns, the Viper Laser Cannons make short work of the Roaches with several blasts of rapid-firing lasers; and SAM Sites continue to bring down the Mutalisks.

* * *

(Somewhere below Mar Sara City surface...)

The Commander is sitting comfortably in his personal Reckoner, watching the real-time footages of the Nod base defences holding off the endless zerg assault. From the footage, he can see that the base defences are doing a good job of holding off the zerg assault while his forces pull back. Too bad that he know these defences will not last long, when he sees a Nydus Worm somehow surfaces right in front of the Power Plants. He knows that once the Power Plants are taken out, the defence turrets will be useless. Still, he does not mind the loss of some turrets, when his entire forces had already safely evacuated back into the underground vaults.

"COMMANDER, ALL FORCES AND FOLLOWERS HAD SAFELY REACHED TO THE VAULTS! WE CAN NOW PROCEED TO SEAL OFF ALL TUNNEL ENTRANCES TO KEEP THE ZERGS FROM ENTERING OUR VAULTS! PRIMARY OBJECTIVE ACHEIVED... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

LEGION announces the successful operation.

The Commander ponders about his victory, before asking LEGION,

"LEGION, are the other evacuation operations finished?"

"OUT OF THE TOTAL 71 EVACUATION SITES, 7 OF THEM HAVE COMPLETELY FALLEN TO THE ZERGS BEFORE THEIR OPERATIONS ARE COMPLETE. I HAVE ALREADY SEALED OFF THE TUNNEL ENTRANCE AT THOSE SITES WITH LASER PERIMETER FENCES AS YOU HAVE ORDERED IN THE EVENT IF THE OPERATION HAS FAILED. AMONG THE 7 FALLEN SITES, 3 OF THE SITES HAVE THE BOOBY TRAPS TRIGGERED TO COMPLETELY SEAL OFF THE TUNNELS."

"Do you detect any zergs that may have slipped into our subterranean network?"

"NEGATIVE! I HAVE NOT DETECTED ANY UNIQUE BIOSIGNATURES OF ANY ZERGS IN OUR NETWORK. THE ZERGS ARE CURRENTLY STILL CONGREGATING AT THE PLANET SURFACE."

"Perfect! LEGION, are the psi emitters ready?"

"THE CONSTRUCTION OF OUR TRANSPLANAR PSIONIC WAVEFORM EMITTERS IS NOW COMPLETE. I AM CURRENTLY INITIATING THE NEXT PHASE OF PREPARING THE SETTINGS AND CONTROLS OF THE EMITTERS BEFORE SENDING THEM UP TOWARDS THE SURFACE."

"That will be excellent! LEGION, how much longer will it take to activate the psi emitters?"

"SOON, COMMANDER! THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE PSI EMITTERS WOULD BE FASTER THAN MY EARLIER ESTIMATION. NEW ESTIMATION INDICATES THAT THE EMITTERS WOULD BE READY FOR DEPLOYMENT IN 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

* * *

(Later, Mar Sara Ground Zero, primary Tiberium field...)

Ground Zero; the site where the meteor that carried the 'mysterious green crystals' to Mar Sara. In just less than 2 months since Tiberium took root on Mar Sara, the crater site was now a complete Tiberium wasteland. Green Tiberium crystals flood the area in hundreds of miles, with Tiberium glaciers forming around the crater zone. New Tiberium fault lines had been formed, created by the accumulation of Tiberium veins beneath the surface, ensuring that the Tiberium growth in this area would never cease. The hot, tropical, mineral rich soil of Mar Sara had turned out to be an optimum climate for Tiberium to proliferate.

With the rampant growth of Tiberium, Ground Zero is now completely void of life. Ion storms rage across the region in every few hours, raining down destructive electrical charges that obliterate anything in its path. Besides the thunderous noise of the ion storms, Ground Zero is eerily silent most of the time.

This silence, however, is about to be disrupted very soon...

Without warning, a Nod transport drill burst out of the surface in the middle of the crater. Severely damaged from the wear and tear when forcing its way through the Tiberium veins, the drill opens up and remains there, too damaged to make a return trip. The contents of the drill turns up to be a small object; a transplanar psionic waveform emitter, aka psi emitter.

As soon as the psi emitter is in place, the lights of the emitter begin to flicker, and the device itself starts spinning.

Elsewhere, in all other major Tiberium fields across Mar Sara, similar events are taking place. Psi emitters have been placed on the centre of the Tiberium fields and activated the moment when they are in place.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City...)

With the Power Plants destroyed, the Nod defence turrets guarding the central base are shut down. Without power, the turrets are instantly overrun and demolished by the overwhelming zerg numbers. Still, by the time when the zergs finally overrun the entire capital city, the Nod forces had already retreated underground. Some of the zergs notice the tunnel entrance in front of the Magistrate Building, and try to enter. However, these zergs are quickly cut off by a laser perimeter fence that blocks the entire passage.

Before the zergs can get past through the laser fence, they detect something; something too overwhelming for them to resist. Picking up several strong psi energy, the zergs leave the capital city en masse as fast as they had invaded. With the ruined city left behind, the zergs head towards the sources of the psi energy.

Meanwhile, all across Mar Sara, similar phenomena are occurring planet-wide. Zergs which are beginning to establish a hive colony on the planet, suddenly swarm towards the source of massive psi energy like moths flying towards a light bulb.

* * *

(Mar Sara orbit...)

Space-faring zergs from nearby worlds are heading towards Mar Sara en masse, drawn in by the multiple sources of psi energy emitted out. Even though these zergs had been ordered by their queen to invade and infest other planets, the magnitude of psi energy emitted from Mar Sara is simply too strong for these zergs to resist.

* * *

(Back to Ground Zero, Mar Sara...)

The primary Tiberium wasteland of Ground Zero holds zero life since the first Tiberium had taken root in here. However, this zero life status is about to be broken.

High above the clouds of the ion storms, zergs can be seen flying towards the Tiberium field. During the invasion, the zergs keep away from these Tiberium infested areas; probably driven off by the raging ion storms, or by their own instincts to avoid the 'mysterious green crystals'. This time, however, the psi energy emitted by the psi emitter is too irresistible for the zergs, which are now making a mad dash towards the site of the one of the psi emitters, located right in the middle of Ground Zero Tiberium field. Despite the ion storm that zaps some of the aerial zergs out of the sky with highly-charged lightning strikes, the zergs press on.

On the ground, some of the terrestrial zergs are now only a few miles from the primary Tiberium field. Although like the aerial zergs, some of these zergs are quickly incinerated by the powerful lightning of the ion storm, they resume their march towards the source of the psi energy.

* * *

(Mar Sara City Underground Nod HQ Command...)

The Commander is smirking with anticipation, as he watches the biosignatures of zergs congregating towards the major Tiberium fields on Mar Sara, as shown in the Mar Sara global radar screen projected in this main operation room of this underground operations centre.

Everything is going smoothly according to the prophet's plans...

* * *

(Somewhere in the Koprulu Sector...)

A fairly large Protoss fleet, led by the Protoss Mothership, _Aiuron_, is travelling across the warp space.

Inside the bridge of _Aiuron_, Zeratul is looking anxious. A few minutes ago, during his meditation with the Void, he had heard more dark voices whispering from within the Void about the impending doom of the universe. Worse still, he had begun to hear uncountable voices of the zergs, echoing across the Void. Zeratul can conclude that the zergs are now agitated, which means that the Queen of Blades must be plotting something.

Then, a young Protoss Zealot reports to Zeratul,

"_En taro Tassadar, Prelate Zeratul! Our Observers had just briefly picked up the signatures of Raynor's ship, the Hyperion. The last known signals we've picked up from Hyperion is on this planet world which the terrans call it as Mar Sara. However, the signals are lost before we can track it!"_

Mar Sara; Zeratul is quite familiar with this world. When Tassadar visited him more than 4 years ago, Tassadar did mention about his journey and mission to purge the zergs from infesting the entire Koprulu Sector. In one of Tassadar's account, Mar Sara is one of the numerous planets incinerated by his fleet, when the zergs invaded and infested the planet. Zeratul can also recall that Mar Sara was the world in which his wartime friend, Jim Raynor, was ruling before the zergs attacked.

If Raynor's ship, the _Hyperion_ was last detected on Mar Sara, they can get to there in hoping to meet this friend of the Protoss. Even if the Raynor had left the planet, they would be one step closer to encountering Raynor; meaning one step closer to deliver the warnings of the dark prophecy that Zeratul had risked his life to uncover.

"_Thank you, young one! Inform Executor Furon; begin plotting course for Mar Sara!"_

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: To Tame a Beast

The zergs have conquered Mar Sara, or so they think. Lured by the psi emitters, the zergs march towards Tiberium fields. What would happen if the zergs cross paths with Tiberium? Meanwhile, the Protoss fleet led by Zeratul arrive at Mar Sara orbit, hoping to find their friend Jim Raynor. Instead, they find something that is only mentioned in one of Zeratul's recently uncovered ancient records.

* * *

(1) The Terran Armoured Personnel Carrier; shown to be transporting terran civilians in the Wings of Liberty Missions "Liberation Day" and "The Evacuation"

* * *

My Nod Arsenal: Base Building

After their ascension more than 4 centuries ago, the Brotherhood of Nod had faced one of its biggest challenge in the form of colonising the unknown planet, in which Kane termed it as Eden. During the Fourth Tiberium War, the Nod employed the Crawler system, in which highly advanced MCVs known as Crawlers were deployed to different areas of the battlefield through the Nod's subterranean technology. Crawlers were capable of moving across any battlefield terrain with ease, instantly deploying on site to construct either units or base defences depending on its class. The advantage of the Crawler system was its unrivalled mobility across the battlefield, allowing the Kane's forces to counter against the rogue Nod general Gideon's hit-and-run strikes. However, the downside of this system was that firstly it required the Brotherhood's extensive global subterranean network that can send in and deploy Crawlers at their desired locations. Secondly, it required a lot of manpower and resources to maintain. During the Fourth Tiberium War, the development of the Tiberium Control Network had allowed the Brotherhood to easily harness and gather enough Tiberium and relevant resources to support this Crawler system; the situation had been much different since their ascension...

When the Brotherhood arrived on Eden, they had to start from zero. Without their subterranean network, without resources, and with the lack of manpower, the Crawler system was hardly of any use. Fortunately, Kane had anticipated this challenge and had ordered his followers to bring along some of the older Nod MCVs that had survived the Third Tiberium War. The base building capability of the older generation of Nod MCV allowed the Brotherhood to rebuild and colonise Eden within a few months period. As a result of its success, the classic base building MCVs were brought back to service and began entering mass production; while the Crawlers had been temporarily scrapped.

With the rise of the Brotherhood's military might prior to the Second Great War, there were rumours stating that the Inner Circle was attempting to revive the Crawler system in some future operations. Though it was all just rumours...

* * *

My Nod Structure List

**Construction Yard**: Constructs other buildings through the classic "C&C" style, in which buildings are first constructed as packed up modules, which are then unfolded and deployed on a nearby empty space within the construction radius. Construction radius can be expanded by constructing additional primary structures (including Refineries, unit-producing structures and tech structures). Also builds a Slave construction vehicle, which builds Outposts to expand build radius and repairs structures and other mechanical units.

**Power Plant**: Not just produces power for buildings and base defences, but also provides supply count for units. Can be upgraded with Liquid Tiberium Core for additional power and supply.

**Crane**: Also functions like a Construction Yard by building other Nod structures. However, it is unable to build base defences and super weapons.

**Tiberium Refinery**: Refines and converts harvested Tiberium into resources. Deploys a Nod Harvester after construction.

**Hand of Nod**: Trains infantry units.

**War Factory**: Trains vehicle units.

**Operations Centre**: Provides infantry weapon and armour upgrades like the Terran Engineering Bay. Also acts as a launch pad for Radar Jamming Missile, which takes time and energy to recharge.

**Viper Laser Cannon**: Light pop-out base defence turrets that shoots out short-range laser cannons in a quick-firing rate. Effective against both light and armoured targets, with the weakness of its short range and inability to shoot at aerial units. (It functions like the Nod Laser Turrets in Tiberium Sun)

**SAM Site**: Light pop-out anti-air defence that utilises 3 anti-air rocket pods which fire long range SAMs against aerial targets. Strong against both light and armoured air units, with incredible long range that is only outranged by Zerg Brood Lords or Protoss Carriers.

**Flame Column**: Heavy defence turret that either bombards targets at medium range with Pyradon fire bomb cannons, or spew Purifier flamethrower at close proximity. Highly effective against lightly armoured units and other structures. Unable to attack aerial units, though. (Similar to the Flame Column in Tiberium Twilight)

More structure list coming soon...

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Black Hand

Role: Heavy anti-personnel/anti-structure elite shock infantry

Armament: Purifier flamethrower, Holy Water grenade, Black Hand flame hazard heavy power suit

Appearance: Similar to the Black Hands of C&C4, except its armour is even bigger and heavier, and two fuel tanks are carried instead of one. It is around the size of the new Dominion Firebats.

Even after the Brotherhood's ascension, the Black Hand follows, eager to maintain and enforce order in the fledging colony in Eden. Throughout the Brotherhood's colonisation, this ancient military wing of the Brotherhood had been responsible for overseeing the establishment of Eden colony, maintaining peace and order, and arresting any individuals suspected of questioning the authority of Kane. The Black Hands are essentially the police force of the Brotherhood.

With the threat of war arising, the Black Hands are one of the first military units to be enlisted for the war. With the technological improvement since 4 centuries later, the newest batch of Black Hand heavy infantries is now adorned in heavy power suits that protect the Black Hand from their own flames. Unlike the Dominion Firebats, the Black Hand's Purifier flamethrower spew out flames in a continuous stream, making the Black Hand more deadly in a prolonged combat. Multiple Black Hands can overlap their flames to create a firestorm. To make themselves even deadlier, Black Hands can also be armed with Holy Water grenades, which douse their targets with a cocktail of flammable substance which amplifies the destructive nature of the flames. Black Hands have been trained to fight in close quarters using their flamethrowers, which can easily incinerate light units and structures within seconds. They are also been trained to burn down Terran Bunkers with their occupants still inside by spraying their flames directly into the Bunker portholes. Like other flame units, Black Hands' flamethrowers can be upgraded to spew out even deadlier blue purifying flames.

My Nod Unit Profile: Flame Tank

Role: Anti-personnel/anti-structure medium tank

Armament: Devil's tongue twin flamethrowers

Appearance: Basically, it looks like a Terran Perdition Turret on threads, with reinforced fuel tanks housed at the rear of the turret.

The Nod Flame Tank returns as the Brotherhood's most destructive anti-personnel weapon. With its classified mixture of flammable fuels, the newest Nod Flame Tank's Devil's tongue twin flamethrowers can fire short bursts of highly destructive flames, which are so volatile that even a Dominion Firebat's Perdition flamethrowers look like tiny matchsticks compared to those of a Flame Tank. Test results have shown that these Flame Tanks can instantly scorch a whole pack of Zerglings in a single burst of fire, or burn down an entire building in less than a minute. Experimental tests have also indicated that the firepower of these tanks are more than enough to burn down a Terran Bunker along with the garrisoned infantries still inside.

The Flame Tanks themselves are heavily armoured, including their exposed oversized fuel tanks housed at the rear of their rotatable turrets. Despite the heavy armour though, Flame Tank operators have been warned that the fuel tanks are highly volatile and will explode violently if seriously damaged. As a result, Flame Tanks explode violently when destroyed, damaging anything near itself, regardless whether it is friendly or hostile. Like other flame units, Flame Tanks can have their flames upgraded into even more destructive blue purifying flames.

* * *

Finally had it done! I've been very busy lately, but I will still try to update this story as fast as I can.

The next act will see the Protoss to start getting involved with Nod matters. So stay tuned!


	12. Act 11: To Tame a Beast

Some have commented that my writings look like long battle reports. I would like to apologise to those who feel that they have difficulty in reading my story, but this is how I want to write. Since this story is a RTS crossover, I am trying to portray the story like a RTS campaign game that you all guys see in SC2: Wings of Liberty. I am trying to write it in the way that the readers will feel that as if they are in a middle of a RTS campaign storyline. So please bear with me for a while.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 11: TO TAME A BEAST**

(Warp space... inside _Hyperion _bridge...)

Jim Raynor, along with his two new crew, Tychus Findlay and Tray Randall, enter into _Hyperion _control bridge. Matt Horner and the rest of the _Hyperion _crew present quickly greet them.

"Glad to see you sir! Welcome aboard!" Matt greets his superior.

"Wow! Never knew that you had such a piece of floating hunk with you! Where did you get it from?" Tychus asks, as he marvels the tour inside of _Hyperion_.

"Well, I kinda 'borrow' it from Mengsk when we parted ways." Jim replies.

As Tychus and Tray continue to look around their new environment, Jim approaches Matt and asks,

"Alright, Matt, would you help to explain what the zergs are doing here in Mar Sara?"

"It's not just Mar Sara, sir, take a look at this..."

Matt replies, as he plays the startling news reports of zerg invasions in various worlds, broadcasted by news channels from different Terran news network, including the UNN and Umojan News Service.

"Holy... mother..." Tychus exclaims as he watches the live news footages of zerg invasions on various planets.

In the footages, cities are destroyed; bodies are recovered; reporters are killed on site; etc...

Then one particular footage captures all eyes on board of _Hyperion_; the footage, shot by one anonymous reporter, shows a humanoid figure walking across the ruined street in one of the zerg invaded cities. The figure is around the size of a tall terran female, with body features resembling a blend of terran female with zerg carapace, claws and a pair of wing-like appendages. Instead of hair, it has bony hair-like dreadlocks covering the scalp. As the figure walks past, it takes a glance of the camera, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Then the screen turns static. For the crew on board of _Hyperion_, the figure is unmistakable.

"Kerrigan..." Jim exclaims.

"But after all these years, why did she suddenly return?" Matt wonders.

"She's returned to finish the job!"

Jim replies, as he sits down, watching the haunting replay of Kerrigan's brief glance at the camera. To him, this is the most possible explanation he can think of. Truthfully, he has no ideas why Kerrigan decides to launch a large-scale invasion right now if she can have done the same four years ago, when Mengsk was just defeated by the UED, and the Protoss were fresh from their defeat on Aiur. Why did she choose to finish what she had started right now?

Jim's thoughts are interrupted, when Tray suddenly calls out to his superior,

"Sir! You better come and see this!"

Jim looks back, to see another screen, showing another news broadcast, this time by Kate Lockwell of the UNN.

"_This is Kate Lockwell, live on Chau Sara! Just a few minutes ago, communication officers on board of this orbital station had picked up readings of massive number of zergs heading towards this planet, on Chau Sara. Then, something just happened; the zergs changed their course, and headed towards the neighbouring planet of Mar Sara instead. We had just received similar reports of zergs massing towards Mar Sara from the rest of the Sara system. The civilians of the Sara system felt a sense of relief, but we have to wonder what is the fate of the people who are still trapped on Mar Sara. Does this massive zerg invasion has anything to do with the recent uprising in Mar Sara? What will be the future plans of Emperor Mengsk for Mar Sara, since the zergs are now involved..."_

Again, before Kate can finish her report, Donny Vermillion cuts her off, returning the screen back to himself in the UNN studios.

"_Thank you Kate for your report! You heard that folks, the zergs are massing up against the insurgent state of Mar Sara! Is this the repeat of the Tarsonis tragedy, when the zergs launched a massive scale invasion against the corrupt state and wiped out the Confederacy? Are the insurgents on Mar Sara going to face the same divine judgement by the zergs? Will Mar Sara still left standing after this invasion? Stay tuned to find out!"_

Jim watches the news, only to feel a sense of familiarity in this kind of event. Tychus on the other hand, remarks,

"Wow! Talking about absolute bad luck! The Nod goons have just taken control of Mar Sara, only to lose it immediately to the zergs. And this is not just a few herds, but almost an entire swarm in the entire system! I don't think those Nod goons will be able to handle this now!"

"Hmm... I smell something fishy about this... massive zerg invasion. If Kerrigan is starting a war, I don't think she would be stupid enough to send out such a disproportional amount of forces against a backwater planet like Mar Sara! If it's against Korhal, maybe; but Mar Sara... this doesn't make any sense!" Jim remarks.

"Sir, pardon me for interrupting, but doesn't this type of zerg attack pattern look familiar to us?" Matt sounds out his thoughts.

"I was getting to that too, Matt! This type of zerg attack pattern looks too similar to the one that destroyed Tarsonis!" Jim replies.

Just then, Tychus asks,

"Err... Jim, what do you exactly mean by that?"

This time, Tray is the one who asks the blue clad Marine,

" You mean you have never heard about that, Mr. Findlay? Didn't you know that the Confederates had been wiped out by one major zerg invasion of this similar scale on Tarsonis during the Great War, which was the main reason how the Dominion won the war against the Confederates!"

"Hell, how do I know? I was rotting in jail when the war was taking place!"

As Tray and Tychus start to argue against each other again, Jim believes it is time to let these two know the truth about the fall of Tarsonis.

"Actually, Tray, do you know the true reason how Tarsonis fall?" Jim asks.

"Err... I only know that a massive zerg invasion was responsible for wiping out the entire colony, giving way for the Sons of Korhal to take over. "

"Then do you know why the zergs attacked Tarsonis?"

"Err... I don't know... coincidence maybe?"

Jim chuckles, as he thinks,

'Hmm... seems that Mengsk has it covered pretty well...'

"That was not a coincidence that the zergs attacked and wiped out Tarsonis, Tray; it was actually Mengsk who was responsible for that infestation!"

"HUH? But how? Can Mengsk control the zergs?"

"In a way... yes! I was there and I saw what Mengsk had done! Mengsk had used a special device called a psi emitter to lure the zergs to attack Tarsonis. He even sent Kerrigan down there to stop the Protoss from preventing the zergs to be wiped out. It was that day when everything changed; the fall of Confederacy, the loss of Kerrigan, the rise of Mengsk... It was also that day when I decided to part ways with Mengsk..."

"Psi emitters? I thought those things are just only urban legends! Do they really exist?"

"Yes, they do! I helped Mengsk to retrieve the schematics of this device from a Confederate installation years ago; and I had seen them with my very own eyes on a few occasions! Those things truly exist, and I know that Mengsk still have some of these things!"

As Tray is still trying to contemplate what he has just learnt, Tychus decides to ask another question,

"So, buddy, are you suggesting that this infestation of Mar Sara is another one of these psi emitter plot of old Mengsk in trying to take out the Nod goons?"

"I believe it is possible, but the question is when has Mengsk planted the device on Mar Sara? Adjutant, can you confirm whether there are energy readings of psi emitters on Mar Sara?"

There is a brief pause, before the adjutant answers Jim's suspicion,

"AFFIRMATIVE... UNIQUE ENERGY READINGS OF TRANSPLANAR PSIONIC WAVEFORM EMITTERS HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED ON MULTIPLE LOCATIONS ON MAR SARA..."

"Multiple?"

Jim is shocked. During the Battle of Tarsonis, only one psi emitter was needed to lure enough zergs to wipe out Tarsonis. Now imagine how many zergs can be lured by more than one psi emitters.

"Multiple? When does that old fox Mengsk plant that many emitters on Mar Sara?" Tychus asks.

"This doesn't make any sense! The Dominion would never have the opportunity to plant the psi emitters on Mar Sara! The Omega Squadron never had the clearance to keep such high profile weapons! Even if they have the chance, they would have never risk planting so many devices just to wipe out a bunch of insurgents!"

As Jim is still deep in his thoughts, Matt notices something about the source of energy signatures of psi emitters on Mar Sara.

"Sir, I think you need to see this! It appears that the source of the energy signatures of the psi emitters coincide with the centre of all major 'mysterious green crystal' fields on Mar Sara!"

"WHAT?"

"Sir, personally I don't think it is the Dominion who have planted those emitters. Only the Brotherhood would have the ability to access those crystal fields! I think it is the Brotherhood who had planted and activated those emitters!"

Now this is a shocking revelation for Jim. However, as Jim thinks carefully, what Matt has said does make sense. The schematics of the psi emitter was found in the Jacobs Installation, on Mar Sara! It is possible that the Brotherhood would have stumbled upon the schematics and build their own versions of psi emitters. The question is why do they want to do that? Why do they want to risk their lives to attract so many zergs, which would have easily wiped out the entire colony? Just then, Jim thinks up of another clue; according to his adjutant, the psi emitters have been planted on the middle of major 'mysterious green crystal' fields.

'So the Brotherhood wants to lure the zergs to their crystals! But why would they want to do that? What can they possibly gain?'

While Jim continues to ponder in his thoughts, Tray decides to voice out another one of his opinions,

"Sir, I think whatever the Brotherhood of Nod is planning, they are trying to lure the zergs to the crystals! But what would happen if the zergs come into close contact with those crystals?"

'The crystals? That's it! The Nod guys must be trying to use those crystals to exterminate the zergs in one go! They have known how much damage those crystals can do to a terran body. No doubt that these crystals could be an effective pesticide against the zergs too! But still, the zergs are also notorious for their ability to mutate and adapt to any kind of environment, which even includes open space. Are the crystals strong enough to kill the zergs? Or would they cause another major mutation in the zerg gene pool, resulting in the birth of another new zerg breed?'

"Sir? So what are we going to do now? What are your orders?"

Matt's question temporarily disrupts Jim's thoughts, but it allows Jim to realise that he needs to give an order right now, immediately!

"Whatever is happening right now, in Mar Sara, there is nothing we can do to stop it. It is obvious that the Nod forces are planning to use their crystals against the zergs. We don't know what would happen and it will be safer for us if we don't go out there to find out! So Matt, let's leave this system right now!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

(Mar Sara City Underground HQ Command...)

The Commander is staring at the giant screen, in the middle of the main operation room of this underground operations centre. The screen is currently portraying the real-time footage of the psi emitter deployed at Mar Sara Ground Zero.

Inside the footage, it can be seen that Mar Sara Ground Zero is now nothing more than just a Tiberium wasteland. Green Tiberium crystals of various sizes are littered across the landscape, while the air around is filled with green fumes. An ion storm is also currently raging in the area.

For the Commander, the things that he is now observing for are not Tiberium. Instead, he is looking for the signs of zergs in the area. Not long ago, several psi emitters had been deployed and activated at the major Tiberium fields all across Mar Sara, luring all zergs in the vicinity of the Sara system to all these Tiberium fields. Now, it is time to see the results of this little experiment.

According to the prophet, the zergs are creatures with purity of essence. They are highly adaptive organisms that can evolve at an incredible rate, thanks to their ability to incorporate any useful genetic materials they can find into their own genetic library, giving rise to the huge variety of different breeds of zergs. Sometimes, zergs can evolve not out from the discovery of new useful biological properties, but out of necessity. The Baneling is one such example of a breed of zerg evolved out of necessity. Hence, the theory is that by exposing the zergs under a high level of Tiberium exposure, some of the zergs will be forced to mutate in order to survive the exposure to Tiberium. To all followers of the Brotherhood, it has been known that the only way to survive and adapt to a full Tiberium exposure, is to embrace the Tiberium itself. Most of them will die, but at least there may be one out of a million that may live and evolve.

As the Commander scans across the footage, so far he has not yet found any desired results. There are zergs present in the area; dead crystallised zergs. It seems that even the zergs themselves are not immune to the effects of Tiberium. After an hour of searching, there still seems no sign of any zergs that have successfully embraced and accepted Tiberium.

Just as the Commander is about to give up hope of finding any live zergs in a Tiberium field, LEGION announces a breakthrough,

"COMMANDER, I HAVE DETECTED MOVEMENTS IN GROUND ZERO! IT IS LIKELY TO BE ORIGINATING FROM A LIVE ZERG!"

"Really? LEGION, zoom the screen in to the source of movements!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... STANDING BY..."

The screen in the middle of the operation room zooms in towards a Tiberium-covered flatland a few miles away from the Ground Zero crater. Initially, there seems to be nothing in the area other than more green Tiberium crystals. Just as the Commander is about to dismiss LEGION's find as a false alarm, some of the green Tiberium crystals portrayed in the screen begin to shudder. Noticing the slight movements of the crystals, the Commander and the other Nod officers begin to focus their attention towards the screen. They know that Tiberium crystals themselves cannot move on their own, unless when there is something pushing the crystals around.

Soon enough, an image of a small, dog-sized quadruped creature can be seen, scurrying out from the cover of concentrated mass of green Tiberium crystals. The creature bears resemblance to an ordinary Zergling, except for a few major differences. The creature's carapace is dotted with crystals; green Tiberium crystals. Its fangs and claws are crystallised with green Tiberium, and its eyes are giving off a greenish eerie glow instead of yellowish ones in a normal Zergling. The fact that this creature resembles a Zergling and it is thriving in a Tiberium field can only point to one thing: it has to be a Zergling that had been successfully mutated by Tiberium!

"COMMANDER, BIO-SCANS OF THE CREATURE INDICATE A NEAR 99% MATCH TO THE GENETIC MAKEUP OF A ZERGLING. THE CREATURE HAS A 33% BODY CONTENT OF TIBERIUM. IT CAN BE CONCLUSIVE THAT THIS CREATURE IS A TIBERIUM-MUTATED ZERGLING."

After hearing LEGION's analysis, the Nod officers present in the operation room give a loud roar of cheer. To them, it seems that the experiment to cross zergs and Tiberium is a success. However, the Commander is still not going to celebrate just yet. There are a few more things he need to confirm if he wants to declare the experiment a success.

"LEGION, how many more mutated zergs can you locate on Mar Sara?"

"SCANNING THE MAR SARA SURFACE FOR MUTANT ZERG SIGNATURES, STANDING BY... SCAN COMPLETE! SCAN RESULTS HAVE INDICATED THAT 99.9% OF THE ZERGS THAT ARRIVED ONTO MAR SARA TIBERIUM FIELDS HAD PERISHED. ONE OUT OF A THOUSAND INFECTED ZERGS SURVIVED THE MUTATION PROCESS TO BECOME FULLY COMPATIBLE TO TIBERIUM..."

"Okay LEGION, but I want to know if there is any higher zergs that have survived the mutation process. Are there any mutated Drones or Overlords?"

"AFFIRMATIVE! SCANS HAVE INDICATED THE PRESENCE OF MUTANT OVERLORDS AND DRONES THAT ARE CURRENTLY THRIVING IN THE TIBERIUM FIELDS. IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT THE EXPERIMENT IS A SUCCESS!"

After hearing the news of success mutation of higher zergs, chiefly the Overlords, the Commander breathes out a sigh of relief. Now he is sure that the experiment is a success. He can now inform Kane about the good news.

"LEGION, relay a message to Kane; inform him that we have led the zergs to the next step of evolution."

* * *

(Somewhere in the Koprulu Sector...)

Kerrigan is surveying the scene of carnage she had just wrought upon. Another Dominion colony had fallen to her wrath. As she walks along the ruined street of the destroyed city, she ponders about the recent dark voices she had been hearing inside her head for these days. These voices are nothing like she had heard before. Although they sound like Protoss, they have a more malicious feel, like those of the Overmind, her creator and former master. Then, she begins to hear another voice, telling her to stay alive and to search for the fragments of an ancient Xel'naga artifact, which was rumoured to have the ability to wipe out all zergs in the universe and strip her off from her powers. This new voice would sound very much like the same Cerebrate (1) that had watched over her rebirth and aided her to gain control over the rest of the Zerg Swarm from the other Cerebrates.

Kerrigan misses that Cerebrate, even though she had never learnt of its name. That Cerebrate was different from the other Cerebrates, in the way that it was selfless and had never ever cared about gaining power like the other Cerebrates did after the death of the Overmind. It knew that it would not live long after the Overmind's demise, yet it agreed to help her to gain dominance over the rest of the Cerebrates and plot the demise of the New Overmind during the Brood War. With the death of the New Overmind, the Cerebrate had sealed its own fate, but it did not seem to mind its eventual death. When Kerrigan was resting above Char Alpha, it overcame all odds to defend Kerrigan and her brood from the onslaught of not just one, but three fleets from the Protoss forces, Terran Dominion and UED remnants. Even after Kerrigan's rise of power in the Koprulu Sector after that battle over Char, the Cerebrate remained keeping watch over her, till its death just one week after Kerrigan's "ascension". Strangely for Kerrigan, she had felt attached to that Cerebrate, which had been created by the Overmind for the sole purpose of watching over her growth, as if she had it as a foster father. When the Cerebrate died, she mourned for its death, perhaps signalling that she still had a bit of humanity inside her. She even slipped into a state of depression for years, causing her to lose her will to exact revenge against her enemies. It was during this period when she decided to stay low and take her time to rework on her swarm.

After four years of preparation, Kerrigan felt ready again. She had finally broken through the state of depression from the loss of her closest Cerebrate. Then she began to hear the voices, including the one that sounded like the Cerebrate and told her to look for the artifacts. Kerrigan decided to heed that voice and begins her search for the Xel'naga artifacts, not because she still feels that she needs to obey the Cerebrate, but because she wants to do it to protect her status as the Queen of Blades. After years of controlling the entire Zerg Swarm, Kerrigan grew too attached to her newfound powers, and she had no intent of letting them go, even if it means sacrificing her humanity forever.

Right now, Kerrigan is feeling bored, and frustrated. Her swarm had just combed this entire planet; and had found nothing. There is no artifact on this planet. Perhaps it is time to move on to resume her search.

Suddenly, Kerrigan felt a terrible headache. After years of experience in controlling her zergs, Kerrigan knew that a headache like this would mean that she had lost the psionic connection of a large number of her children. Somewhere, in this sector, a huge population of zergs is either wiped out en masse, or somehow has broken free from her control.

Kerrigan is feeling disturbed. Although because of her limited powers as an infested terran, losing psionic connection with a few of her zergs is quite common, especially when some of her children had wandered too far away from Char. To lose the control of so many zergs, with numbers close to the size of an entire brood, is too unusual. It is as if something, or someone is trying to snatch away her control over the entire Zerg Swarm, or trying to wipe out her and her broods from the face of this universe.

Of course she is not going to allow that to happen. The zergs belong to her alone, no one else! She is the Queen of Blades! She fears no one! She would investigate this mysterious mass disappearance of her children, and find out who is trying to threaten her status as the Queen of Blades, the queen of this entire Koprulu Sector.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara, in the Nod Underground HQ Command...)

The Commander is standing face to face with a hologram projection of Kane. It appears Kane is looking pleased, obviously happy with the current trend of events, especially about the successful crossing of zergs with Tiberium.

"Excellent work, Commander! With the zergs successfully accepting Tiberium, we can now wait for the next phase of our plans. The successful mutation of zergs by Tiberium give rise to a new breed of mutant zergs; one that will no longer fall under the slavery of the queen of abomination. Tiberium has changed these zergs; they are only attracted to energy emitted by Tiberium; they form a symbiotic relationship with Tiberium; they carry and hold Tiberium in their bodies; they no longer associate themselves as part of the Swarm; they have their own unique frequency of psionic communication different from the other zergs; THEY ARE A NEW SPECIES! Soon, their instincts to populate the entire galaxy will drive them away from Mar Sara, and begin colonising the entire Koprulu Sector. For every foothold they make, they will deposit Tiberium. For every planet they colonise, Tiberium will be spread, and our path to ascension will be even clearer!"

"Indeed, sir! But pardon me for asking; what if these mutant zergs pose a threat to our operations?" the Commander asks.

"They would not pose much of a threat to us, my child. Unlike the zergs from the Swarm, these mutant beasts do not have a central figure that can rally them together under a single banner. They are mainly acting under the instinct of either a single Overlord, or a single hive cluster, nothing more. If they stand in our way, their lack of unity would allow us to wipe them out with absolute ease."

Kane replies, as the Commander nods in understanding. Then, Kane continues his speech,

"Of course, we know that it would not be easy to get successful Tiberium-Zerg mutants, even as the zergs have the purity of essence. If we want to get a sizeable number of successful mutant specimens, we would need to have billions of zerg specimens for crossing over with Tiberium. That is how the psi emitter comes in as part of our plan to lure the zergs towards our vast patches of Tiberium fields on Mar Sara. And as I have expected, a sizeable population of mutant zergs have been born. Soon, these zergs will begin to form their own hive clusters and reproduce, increasing their own numbers. When they feel their time has come to spread across the universe, their space-faring abilities will allow them to spread Tiberium across the galaxy. Soon, the glory of Tiberium will be spread all over the galaxy!"

While Kane gloats about the success of his plans, LEGION makes a sudden announcement,

"WARNING! WARP ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED! UNKNOWN FLEET INCOMING FROM WARP SPACE ENTERING MAR SARA ORBIT!"

The news of an invasion alarms both the Commander and Kane. They have never received any intelligence about a possible attack from the Dominion or the Zerg Swarm. So whose fleet is now entering Mar Sara orbit?

The Commander is quick to recover from his initial astonishment and starts to ask LEGION more about this unknown fleet,

"LEGION, what is the nature of this fleet?"

"THE FLEET IS EMITTING THE UNIQUE SIGNATURE OF PLASMA SHIELDS, IT IS HIGHLY POSSIBLE TO BELONG TO THOSE OF A PROTOSS FORCES!"

Kane does not like what he has heard from his created AI.

"Commander, you must make sure that the first-borns do not interfere with our plans! If they see the mutated zergs, they will no doubt do everything possible to stop the spread of our mutant beasts! It seems that we have to push our plans even further ahead again! I'll be sending in your ship alongside with your fleet back to Mar Sara to intercept the first-borns! At the same time, I'll be sending you the special package we have prepared for the first-borns! Make sure that they do not succeed in stopping the spread of Tiberium before the package arrives!" Kane orders the Commander.

"I understand, sir! But what if they decide to incinerate the planet immediately? If the first-borns incinerate the planet upon seeing the Tiberium-Zerg mutants, our plans will be all gone to waste in an instant!"

"Don't worry, my child. The first-borns are very cautious in terms of dealing with threats that they are not familiar with. They will be having second thoughts before they decide on incinerating Tiberium. Although your concern is not impossible too, we'll have to hope that these first-borns are planning to deal with the mutants in a more conventional approach before they decide on using their own purification methods. Right now, our only hope is to distract the first-borns long enough so that the mutants can begin their grand crusade; and have our special package prepared before the first-borns decide to purify Mar Sara."

"Yes sir! I'll wait for the arrival of our fleet to deal with the first-borns!"

"In the mean time, I'll be sending you the schematics of some of our more advanced weapons against the first-borns. Remember, the first-borns may be few in numbers, their technology and faith are never to be underestimated!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

(Mar Sara orbit...)

A warp rift opens in the Mar Sara orbit, as a fairly large Protoss fleet leaves the warp space and enters the orbit.

Led by the massive Mothership _Aiuron_, the Protoss fleet carefully thread into Mar Sara orbit, unsure of what kind of surprises they may find. According to their Observers, the last previous trace of _Hyperion _was in Mar Sara. Although they can no longer trace their friend Raynor's ship, at least they can stop at Mar Sara to search for more clues of Raynor's whereabouts.

* * *

(Inside _Aiuron_ control bridge...)

Zeratul is staring at the planet of Mar Sara through the control bridge of the city-sized Mothership. He is puzzled, very puzzled...

When he saw Mar Sara, he did not recognise it initially. From the tales of his old friend Tassadar, Mar Sara should be an orange to brown, dusty planet, not a brown planet covered with patches of green. At first, he thought that they had arrived at the wrong location, until the _Aiuron_'s onboard AI and the AI of the other Protoss ships had confirmed that this planet is Mar Sara. So what would have brought the sudden change in Mar Sara's entire geographical landscape in a short span of 4 years time?

Zeratul is also baffled about these green patches on Mar Sara for another reason. Somehow, he is sensing a unique psionic waveform frequency from within these patches, as if they are actually alive like a kind of psionic-sensitive plant life. The problem is that Zeratul cannot recognise this psionic waveform frequency; it does not feel like Protoss or Zergs, or even the Xel'naga. It feels like something new; never encountered by the Protoss.

"_Executor Furon, send in some Observers into the planet surface; we must investigate what is giving out these unique psionic frequencies on that planet!"_

Furon, the young-looking Protoss executor, dressed in a High Templar ceremonial armour and robe, turns his head towards his Dark Templar companion, and replies,

"_It would be done, Prelate Zeratul!"_

In a few minutes time, dozens of small robotic aerial droids known as Protoss Observers, begin to approach the planet surface. These droids are like cloaked flying spy cameras, designed to uncover the shroud of a large area in a short time span, scouting out the faintest trace of enemies even if they are hidden, while the Observers remain hidden themselves.

While the fleet wait for the Observers to scan the area, Furon asks his superior,

"_Prelate Zeratul, I've been feeling a weird psionic frequency originating from that planet; do you think it has something to do with the change in the geographical features of the planet?"_

"_It's possible, my friend, but even I can't be too sure! That frequency is one that even I had never encountered throughout my entire life! Regardless of what is emitting that psionic frequency, it is not a Protoss; not a Zerg; not a Terran; not even a Xel'naga; it must be something... new to us..."_

Then, the images captured by the Observers have been received by the fleet. Inside _Aiuron_, Zeratul and Furon can finally learn what is causing the green patches on the surface of the usually brown planet. When Zeratul sees the images, portrayed through a holographic projection, his eyes widen,

"_No... it cannot be..."_

In the images captured by the Observers, the green patches are the vast fields of a kind of green crystals. These crystals, varying from hand-size to glacier-size, cover almost a third of the planet's surface area. Green fumes, seemingly emitted from the crystals, are changing the climatic patterns of the planet, creating violent thunderstorms in a regular interval. In fact, some of the Observers are hit by the stray lightning of these violent storms and lost connection to the fleet. Zeratul may have never seen these crystals in his very own eyes, but he has seen them in a memory crystal, from one of the Ihan crystals that he had recently uncovered from a Xel'naga temple found under the ice of Braxis.

"_Ichor..."_

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Mutant Crusade

For the first time in history, the Protoss had encountered Tiberium. How would the Protoss respond to the appearance of Tiberium on Mar Sara? Meanwhile, the Tiberium-Zerg mutants are trying to fly out of Mar Sara to spread across the entire Koprulu Sector, but they will have to first get past the Protoss fleet led by Zeratul. The Brotherhood of Nod will do anything to ensure that the mutated zergs crusade would be a success, even if they have to engage the Protoss.

* * *

(1) The Cerebrate refers to the unnamed Cerebrate that all Starcraft players play as in the Starcraft 1 and Brood War zerg campaign.

* * *

About the Tiberium-Zerg mutants

Kane has taken advantage of the zergs' ability to quickly adapt and evolve to accept Tiberium. These mutants live in a symbiotic relationship with the Tiberium growing on their bodies; in which these zergs feed on the unique energy radiated from the Tiberium, while the Tiberium is able to spread to further distances thanks to the mutant zergs that are carrying them. Kane has also made use of the zergs' instincts of spreading across the galaxy and space-faring abilities to allow Tiberium to be spread by these mutants from planet to planet.

The mutant zergs are unlike ordinary zergs in the way that not just only they are carry Tiberium and are thrive under its effects, they no longer share the same psionic communication with the other zergs due to the reason that these mutants communicate with one another in a different psionic waveform frequency. In simpler words, these mutant zergs no longer fall under control of the Queen of Blades, and they no longer associate themselves with the Zerg Swarm. According to Kane, they can be considered as a separate species, different from the original zergs.

Individually, the mutant zergs are more powerful than ordinary zergs. They are armed with Tiberium-crystallised claws and carapace, which are tougher and deadlier than those of ordinary zergs. Mutant Hydralisks launch Tiberium shards instead of spines, while Mutant Roaches spit out liquid Tiberium. However, the mutant zergs are weak in a large-scale battle, mainly because the mutants do not act as a single coordinated unit and will only act based on the instincts of the Mutant Overlord or mutant hive cluster controlling them. Unlike the Zerg Swarm, the mutant zergs yet to have a central figure to take control of all the individuals of the entire species. Hence the Brotherhood has not perceived their created zergs as potential threats.

* * *

My OC Profile: Furon

Born: 2010, Aiur

Race: Protoss

Gender: Male

Eye: Blue

Noticeable feature: Dark purplish skin colour

Affilation: Executor of allied Protoss tribes of Shakuras and captain of Mothership _Aiuron_

During the Great War, Furon served as a High Templar aide for the young praetor Artanis. There, he had proven himself to be a brave, fearless warrior who would not think twice about throwing himself into the heat of battle, even if it means that he would end up in the way of Khala. After the war had ended, Furon was promoted to the rank of executor, which he accepted with pride. One of his first mission assigned by Artanis, was to take control of one of the recently rediscovered Mothership, _Aiuron_, to search around the entire Koprulu Sector for the missing Dark Prelate, Zeratul.

Currently, Furon's mission was almost complete, as he had found the Dark Prelate. However, before _Aiuron_ can return to Shakuras, he had to find Jim Raynor and the _Hyperion_ so that Zeratul can pass on his memories, a promise that he had made in order to convince Zeratul to return to Shakuras. Zeratul found Furon to be a fearless warrior who held tight to his honour, although he also felt that this High Templar was rather rash and reckless in commanding his troops, a worrisome trait that he had feared might one day jeopardise his army.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Nod MCV

Role: Base construction vehicle

Armament: None

Appearance: Large, beetle-shaped quadruped walker like the C&C3 MCV and C&C4 Assault-class Crawler.

After the ascension of the Brotherhood of Nod, Kane needs something to build up a colony for his followers on Eden, and Crawlers are not up to the task. Having to start from zero, Kane knew that Crawlers of the Fourth Tiberium War were not good enough to construct a city for his followers. Hence he had ordered the Inner Circle to bring some of the older Nod MCVs that had survived the Third Tiberium War, which had the necessary base construction function to build rudimentary settlements for his followers, before the actual cities could be done constructing. The old MCVs had served their functions very well in the end, so well that Kane had decided to temporarily flush out the Crawler system and revived the classic MCV for base and building construction operation. With the onset of a new Great War, Kane had pushed the newest generation of Nod MCV for mass production, which would threaten to expand Nod territories throughout the Koprulu Sector.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Slave

Role: Outpost construction vehicle, Base and unit repair vehicle, Mine layer

Armament: Repair arms, Avenger proximity mines

Appearance: Similar to the Slaves of C&C4.

Although MCVs can construct buildings around themselves when they transform into Construction Yards, there is a downside to this system in the way that structures can only be build around a certain radius of the Construction Yard, which can only be expanded by the construction of additional primary structures. In order to counteract this problem, Nod Emissary base extension vehicles had been deployed to expand the construction radius beyond those of the Construction Yard. However, the problem of the Emissary is that its deployment is a one-way ticket; and together with the weakness of slow speed and little protection, the Emissary is a risky and costly investment. Later, during the Fourth Tiberium War, the Slave construction vehicles would turn up to be a better alternative, as it would construct the Outpost instead of becoming one itself. It was also cheaper to deploy, and its additional functions as repair vehicle and mine layer would make the Inner Circle to decide replacing all Emissaries with Slaves. It was noted though, that the same weakness of slow speed and thin armour would make Slaves as vulnerable targets if unescorted.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Nod Harvester

Role: Stealth resource gatherer

Armament: Ezekiel-class stealth generator

Appearance: Similar to Nod Harvesters of C&C3

Without the Tiberium Control Network on Eden or Koprulu Sector, the Brotherhood of Nod had to rely on the more classic Harvesters to gather resources for the Brotherhood's war efforts. Like its predecessors, the newest generation of Nod Harvesters is designed to safely gather Tiberium and transport them to Tiberium Refineries for harvesting. Although it is chiefly designed to gather Tiberium, Nod engineers had modified it to be able to break apart ordinary mineral crystals and gather them like Tiberium. Nod Harvesters are heavily armoured, but they have no defences on their own. Hence in order to protect their Harvesters, the Brotherhood had fitted the latest generation of Ezekiel-class stealth generator onto their Harvesters. These stealth generators can permanently cloak the Harvesters, allowing them to remain hidden even while gathering or unloading their load into the Refineries, unless spotted by detectors.

* * *

A short chapter, because there isn't any battles in this chapter. But now the Protoss had known about the existence of Tiberium, so would they incinerate Mar Sara... again?

Stay tuned to find out!


	13. Act 12: Mutant Crusade

Whew... tests are over for the time being, and I finally have enough time to release this chapter.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 12: MUTANT CRUSADE**

(_Hyperion _bridge, above Monlyth orbit...)

Jim breathes out a sigh of relief, glad to be back on board of the safety of _Hyperion_.

Just a few hours ago, he had returned from a smash and grab mission to retrieve a second Xel'naga artifact fragment from the planet of Monlyth. The mission should not sound difficult, unless you count out the zerg invasion and the Tal'darim.

Jim feels pretty disturbed about his first encounter against the Protoss fanatics who call themelves as the Tal'darim. Unlike the Protoss that he had known, the Tal'darim are extremists who refuse to reason with him when he tried to negotiate with them for a more peaceful solution. In fact, they had begun their assault against his raiders the moment when the raiders set foot on Monlyth. Jim just simply cannot understand why the Tal'darim are so hostile. Surely, he knows that they want to protect their precious relics, but he never expect them to be so hostile against them even in the midst of a zerg invasion.

Then there is the zergs. On his retreat from Monlyth after he had retrieved the artifact fragment, Jim swore that he had heard the voices of Kerrigan on Monlyth, although many had dismissed his claim. If Kerrigan was indeed after the artifact as well, does that meant that he would encounter even more zergs on his quest for the artifacts? This job now sounds even more hazardous than he had previously anticipated. Now he is regretting of accepting this job offer from Tychus.

Speaking about Tychus, Jim had just heard from his second-in-command, Matt Horner, that he had caught Tychus watching some confidential files about Kerrigan. Although Jim had told Matt that he trusts Tychus and there is nothing to worry about it, he is starting to suspect Tychus of hiding something from him. This series of artifact "liberation" quests are too coincidental with the recent invasion of the Zerg Swarm, and the emergence of this mysterious Brotherhood of Nod. The artifacts must be of some major importance to both the Swarm and the Brotherhood. Now, when he had learnt that Tychus was trying to study more about Kerrigan, he is beginning to suspect that his former buddy had lied to him, in the way that he had anticipated a likely encounter against Kerrigan and the Swarm, and he is now trying to learn more about his enemy, contradicting to his claim that he had never expected a zerg encounter.

Jim knows that Tychus is a hardcore criminal, but still it is quite hard for him to imagine Tychus betraying him. During his old days hanging out with Tychus, Jim has known that Tychus may be a crook, but he is a loyal friend. Right now, he does not have enough evidence to point out that Tychus is trying to bring down Raynor's Raiders, so he decides to just leave it be for a moment. Still, it is better for him to keep an eye on that blue Marine.

'Sighhh... maybe I'm getting too old for this...' Jim mentally sighs,

'I'm getting tired of all these stuffs now... perhaps I should find a moment for me to leave everything to Matt?'

Jim looks out from the bridge of _Hyperion_, staring at the open space.

'I wonder what Zeratul is doing out there? Kinda miss him after meeting those Tal'darim. I wonder if Zeratul will get mad about me if he finds out that I am stealing their precious artifacts?'

* * *

(Meanwhile, back in Mar Sara orbit, in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_Ichor..."_

Zeratul exclaims, when he sees the footage of the strange green crystals as shown by the Observers.

"_Ichor? Are you referring to the third creation, Prelate Zeratul, as spoken in the visions shown by your memories?"_ Furon asks.

"_Yes..."_

"_But that's impossible! According to the legends, Ichor only exists at the other edge of the universe! How does it end up in this sector?"_

"_I don't know; but I believe that someone must have brought the Ichor to this sector!"_

"_And who do you think will be responsible for that?"_

"_That... we'll find out on another day... right now, we'll have to examine Ichor as much as possible so that we can find a way to remove its existence from this sector!"_

"_But Prelate Zeratul, if Ichor is truly as dangerous as the legends have spoken, why not we just purify it?"_

"_No, Furon... we can't! We have no idea what would happen if the energies of our purification beams disrupt those unstable psionic energies locked inside of Ichor! We must be sure that our purification beams will not destabilise the energies of Ichor too much before we can commence on the purification. If not, we may cause a powerful release of psionic energies of unknown levels that may bring even further chaos to the entire sector."_

While Zeratul and Furon are arguing whether to incinerate Mar Sara or not in order to remove the threat of Ichor (aka Tiberium), a young Zealot interrupts the argument with a shocking discovery,

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; forgive me for my interrupting your discussions, but we had found something that require your attention!"_

Both Zeratul and Furon feel intrigued. What could have possibly spooked the young Zealot so much that it would require both of their attention?

* * *

(Later...)

Zeratul and Furon are now looking at another new footage recently transmitted in by the Observers. The footage shows another scene of the Ichor-infested wasteland on Mar Sara, except that this time, there is something moving among the Ichor fields.

To the horror of Zeratul and Furon, the creature that is seen scurrying among the Ichor fields appears to be a zerg. However, unlike a normal zerg, this zerg is covered with Ichor, and appears to be thriving under its effect instead of dying under its exposure.

"_No... it can't be..."_

"_Is that... a zerg... crossed with... are you thinking what I'm thinking, Prelate Zeratul?"_

"_Yes... I'm afraid so, my fried... the Ichor has changed these zergs!"_

"_Then what are we waiting for, Prelate Zeratul? We should start purifying this entire world! If these abominations left this world and start spreading Ichor throughout the entire sector, the threat of Ichor would get too big for us to eradicate! Let's not mention the possibility of these Ichor spreading to Shakuras! We have to act now before it's too late!"_

"_No, Furon... as I have just mentioned, we must not overlook the threat that our purifications would destabilise the psionic energies locked within Ichor! The Ichor has changed these zergs completely! Now they are no longer considered as pure zergs, but something else that bears the similar properties of Ichor. Purifying them may not produce the same results as purifying normal zergs. We should proceed with caution!"_

"_But..."_

"_I promise that we'll make sure that these abominations would not leave this world! We must send our warriors onto the surface if we want to end the threat of these abominations once and for all before they had the chance to leave this world! Right now, this is the safest way for us to stop the spread of Ichor!"_

"_And risk the lives of our warriors? Are you certain that our warriors are able defend themselves against these abominations? We've had known how dangerous even our normal zerg foes are, do you think that these abominations can be no less dangerous than any ordinary zergs?"_

"_Trust me, executor! Yes, you are right in the way that these abominations are no less dangerous than our normal zerg foes. However, if you did notice, these abominations are all acting under their own instincts. Unlike Kerrigan's zergs, these abominations act alone or in small groups; they do not act as a coordinated unit! If we send down an army and wipe out the abomination hive clusters one by one, we can win this battle!"_

Furon is still feeling sceptical about Zeratul's plans. In his mind, Furon still believe that incineration is a better solution to eradicate the threat of Ichor and its induced mutants altogether in an instant. However, Zeratul is his superior, and he is also older and more experienced than him. Besides, Furon does feel that what Zeratul has mentioned does make some sense. When he clears his mind into a meditative mode, he does notice that there is no centralised figure that is controlling all the mutants, meaning that these mutants are nothing more like a large pack of wild zergs. Maybe Zeratul is right; maybe they can win without the need to incinerate the world. If they send in a ground force onto the surface and examine Ichor more closely, they may be able to determine whether it is safe to incinerate Ichor with their purification beams.

_With all due respects, I hope you're right about this, Prelate Zeratul..."_

_

* * *

_

(Mar Sara, Ground Zero...)

There is a huge commotion going on within the hive cluster of the Tiberium-Zerg mutants. Although the mutants are content in basking among the radiation of the Tiberium fields, their primal instincts are calling them to leave this planet, and to spread their populations to the galaxy and beyond. For this event, the mutants are massing up, as they get packed up into the ventral sacs of Mutant Overlords.

Then, the Mutant Overlords begin to ascend into the air, bracing themselves against the onslaught of an ion storm. Their adaptability had allowed these mutants to gain the ability to fly across ion storms unharmed (1). As the Mutant Overlords take off towards the atmosphere, Mutant Mutalisks begin to accompany them as well, heading towards the space and beyond.

The crusade has begun...

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron_ bridge...)

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; the mutant zergs are on the move!"_ a random Zealot reports.

According to another new footage sent back by the Observers, the Tiberium-Zerg mutants have begun to fly out of Mar Sara en masse. It appears that the mass migration of these mutants are based on instincts, as there is no pattern in how the mutant zergs deploy their aerial units. They appear to be just randomly flying out of their hive clusters, heading towards space from random directions.

Regardless of what is influencing the mutants to leave Mar Sara, Furon and Zeratul are aware of the dire situation they are in. If these zergs manage to set foot on other worlds, so will Ichor. They must be stopped now!

"_Alert all ships; put your shields up, ready your weapons... prepare for battle! We must stop these abominations at all costs!" _Furon gives out the orders.

"_And we should prepare our ground troops for assault against the abominations' hive clusters! It is only way to stop the birth of more of these monsters!"_ Zeratul reminds the captain of _Aiuron_.

_You are right, Prelate! Get the Probes ready, and prepare to send the Warp Prisms onto the surface..."_

_

* * *

_

(Outside, on Mar Sara orbit...)

The Protoss fleet begins to prepare for battle, as the Scout and Phoenix fighters begin to approach the stratosphere, ready to intercept the flying mutant zergs. At the same time, Warp Prisms are heading towards the planet surface. Each of these Warp Prisms have Protoss Probes and other ground troops converted into energy and stored inside their crystal lattice core, ready to be deployed back into solid state once arrived on the surface.

Soon enough, at the stratosphere of Mar Sara, the Protoss flight of fighters and transports make contact with the mutant zergs. The Scout and Phoenix fighters immediately scatter and begin engaging the flying mutant zergs in a massive scale aerial dogfight.

Fortunately for the Protoss fighters, these zergs are much less organised than the usual ones. Instead of all focusing their attacks onto a single target, these mutants just randomly attack anything that they just fly past. With the protection of their plasma shields, the Protoss fighters are literally unaffected by such random strikes. The fast and agile Phoenix fighters easily dodge and avoid the Tiberium glaive shards launched from the Mutant Mutalisks, while blasting them into aerial fleshbags with their ion cannons. The slower Scout fighters, on the other hand, begin to target and obliterate the slow flying Mutant Overlords with their anti-matter missiles.

While the flying mutant zergs are eradicated one by one by the Protoss fighters, the Warp Prisms make their way past the stratosphere and towards the surface. On their way, they encounter the perilous ion storms, which begin to wreak havoc upon the Warp Prisms. Fortunately, the plasma shields of the Warp Prisms manage to provide enough protection for the Warp Prisms to fly through the storm.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City Nod Underground HQ Command...)

"COMMANDER, THE PROTOSS FLEET HAS INVADED INTO MAR SARA AIRSPACE! PROTOSS FIGHTERS HAVE ENGAGED THE MUTANTS AND ARE PREVENTING ANY OF THEM FROM LEAVING MAR SARA ATMOSPHERE. PROTOSS TRANSPORTS HAVE BEEN DETECTED APPROACHING THE PLANET SURFACE IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS; IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE PROTOSS FORCES ARE PLANNING TO WIPE OUT THE MUTANTS ON THE GROUND USING CONVENTIONAL TACTICS."

The Commander listens attentively to LEGION's briefing about the current situation of the unexpected Protoss invasion. The bad news is that the Protoss are aware of the existence of the Tiberium-Zerg mutants, and they have made the decision to end their existence. The Tiberium-Zerg mutants may be physically more powerful than normal zergs, they are much less organised without a central figure rounding them up. If they will to face against a sizeable Protoss army, they will be easily wiped out without a sweat. In conclusion, the mutants will be lambs for slaughter if they are left alone.

Fortunately, the good news is that the Protoss forces have decided to deal with the mutants in a more conventional way. If they have decided to incinerate the entire planet like how they usually respond to a zerg outbreak, Kane's plans would have easily been disrupted, and all of their previous hard work of capturing Mar Sara and mutating the zergs would have gone to waste. It is not the incineration they fear; in fact, they are anticipating the Protoss to use their planetary incineration weapons if Kane's plans are to carry on further; it is just that they are not ready to respond against the Protoss incineration. Once Kane's special package has arrived and planted in place, they can allow the Protoss to incinerate as much as they want.

The Commander is beginning to wonder how much longer does it take for his fleet and the special package to arrive, when another announcement by LEGION is broadcasted,

"COMMANDER, FLEET _JONAH_ IS NEAR MAR SARA ORBIT AND ABOUT TO LEAVE WARP SPACE IN TWO MINUTES TIME. THE SPECIAL PACKAGE IS CURRENTLY HELD INSIDE OF _JONAH_; A CLOAKED CARRYALL WOULD BE READY TO TRANSPORT THE PACKAGE ONTO MAR SARA SURFACE AFTER THE FLEET ARRIVES THE ORBIT..."

The Commander smirks as he hears the announcement. Reinforcements have arrived at the nick of moment's time. It appears it is time to execute the defence of the mutants.

"LEGION, contact _Jonah_ to load the package into the cloaked Carryall and prepare to send the Carryall to Mar Sara City. Meanwhile, ready our troops; it is time for us to greet the 'first-borns'..."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER..."

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara orbit...)

Zeratul and Furon are standing side by side in the command bridge of the Mothership _Aiuron_. Both of them are staring at the hologram projection by an energy crystal, which is showing the current chain of events as seen by their pilots at the Mar Sara stratosphere. It seems that their pilots are holding off the mutants pretty well and those mutants are not proving to be much of a challenge for their pilots at all. Once the ground troops are ready, they can eradicate the mutants one cluster after another. Everything is going along well... for now...

Suddenly, both Protoss high commanders tense up as they feel a disturbance in the fabric of space around themselves, which can mean one thing...

"_Something is coming... from the warp space!"_ Furon exclaims.

Just then, a Zealot reports to the two Protoss high commanders,

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; we detected warp signatures approaching our fleet! Readings do not match any of our archives, though it is highly possible that the incoming unknowns are of terran origins!"_

"_WHAT? Why are the terrans coming to this forsaken place?" _Furon asks.

'_Terrans? This world used to be a terran colony alright, but it is too dangerous for these terrans to return and reclaim their territory right now! I must warn them before it's too late!'_ Zeratul thinks.

As Zeratul is still deep in his thoughts, a warp rift is opened in front of the Protoss fleet, which is busy preparing themselves for a possible hostile encounter against this likely terran fleet.

"_Here they come..."_ Furon warns the fleet as ships begin to appear out of the warp rift.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City Nod Underground HQ Command...)

"COMMANDER, FLEET _JONAH_ HAS ARRIVED ON MAR SARA ORBIT... THEY ARE NOW YOURS TO COMMAND..."

"Excellent, order the fleet to commence Operation: Invitation!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, ESTABLISHING BATTLEFIELD CONTROL... STANDBY..."

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara orbit...)

"_This is... unusual..."_ Zeratul comments as he sees the outline of the unknown terran fleet that has just exited from the warp space and confronted them in Mar Sara orbit.

Although the ships from the unknown fleet look terran, the designs are totally different from what Zeratul had seen in his entire life. Throughout Zeratul's encounters against the terrans and with him fighting alongside with Raynor and the Dominion during the Great War and Brood War against the UED, Zeratul had seen all kinds of terran ships before. Yet none of these ships are something that Zeratul is familiar with.

The ships are of varying sizes, ranging from small to medium-sized corvettes and frigates, to large ones that appear to function as primary warships. In the middle of the opposing fleet is the largest ship of the unknown fleet, which appears to be the capital ship. To Zeratul's opinion, that largest ship looks like the Terran Science Vessel that he had seen in the Great War and Brood War, except that it was huge, the size of a Carrier or a Terran Battlecruiser.

However, what is mainly concerning about this fleet is not what it is composed of, but the size of its forces. The number of ships in the other fleet is huge; slightly more than their fleet. Worse still, Zeratul's experience tells him that these ships may be of carrier class design, meaning that there are unaccounted numbers of smaller aircrafts available in the unknown terran fleet. If this fleet is hostile, they may have a tough fight ahead.

"_Prelate Zeratul, should we commence fire against these intruders?"_ Furon asks.

"_No wait! We are not here to start another war against the terrans; let me try to reason to them."_

"_But what if they are hostile?"_

"_We are in their territory, executor; if they are hostile, they have every rights to be; but if we try to negotiate with them, we may have a chance to avoid an unnecessary conflict."_

"_But we can't leave those abominations in the hands of the terrans; they are too foolish to understand the grave situations that we are now facing!"_

Zeratul sighs. During his stay in _Aiuron_, he had learnt that Furon despised the terrans as if they were an inferior species. The only exceptions of terrans that Furon respects are Jim Raynor and Arcturus Mengsk; the former for his courage and resourcefulness while the latter for his charisma and cunningness. Zeratul has been constantly reminding Furon that the terrans must not be underestimated, with little success.

"_Don't underestimate the terrans, Furon! Do not forget that the terrans are one of the few races in this galaxy that has the capability to defeat us! We will not leave the abominations in the hands of terrans, Furon; I'll try to convince them that this planet is not safe for them to return." _Zeratul scolds.

Furon remains silent after being scolded by the dark prelate. In his mind, Furon can never understand why does he need to fear the terrans. From what he has known about terrans, they are a race of primitive, savage, greedy and foolish beings who think that they have the rights to control everything within their grasp, without knowing their own limitations. In short, the terrans are weak and foolish in Furon's opinions. Although there are a few terrans that have earned Furon's respect during the alliance between the Dominion, Raynor's Raiders and Protoss in the Brood War, namely Raynor and Mengsk, most terrans are still considered by Furon as worthless adversaries.

Despite his silent protests in his mind, Furon knows that he cannot defy the orders of Zeratul. He may be the executor and commander of this fleet, he is still outranked by Zeratul. If there is anyone in this ship that will have the final say, it is going to be Zeratul.

"_As you wish, Prelate Zeratul. I hope you are right about it..."_

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City Nod Underground HQ Command...)

"COMMANDER, _JONAH _HAD JUST RECEIVED AN INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE PROTOSS FLEET!" LEGION announces.

"Patch me to the transmission, LEGION." The Commander orders.

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER; RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."

A loud static sound can be heard across the entire room when the voice transmission is played, before a deep sullen voice can be heard,

"_To the terran commander of this fleet; I am Prelate Zeratul, and I am not here to fight with you. I must warn you that this planet has been infested by a very deadly strain of zergs and it is too dangerous for you to try to retake your colony right now. Leave the zerg matters to us, and we will quietly leave this planet after the zergs have been purged."_

'Zeratul, as if the leader of the Protoss Dark Templars that Kane had spoken of? This can be troublesome...' the Commander thinks.

"COMMANDER, THE CREW OF FLEET _JONAH_ ARE NOW AWAITING FOR YOUR FURTHER ORDERS; WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS, COMMANDER?"

The Commander remains silent for a few seconds, wondering whether he should resume the mission when he had just found out that Zeratul would be involved. He had heard a lot of tales from Kane about the legendary Protoss Dark Templar warrior known as Zeratul; being one of the oldest and most experienced Dark Templar that have lived throughout the Great War and Brood War, and being one of the heroes who have masterminded the demise of the first Overmind. Most importantly, Zeratul is one of the few individuals living these days that can evenly match up with the mighty Queen of Blades. If Zeratul is involved in this battle, the chance of winning this battle may have gone slimmer.

Still, Kane's orders are of utmost importance. Zeratul or not, Kane's plans must be set in motion without delay. Kane has trusted his abilities by placing him in the Inner Circle, so it is his duty to repay his leader's kindness by proving his skills. It would be a chance for him to earn himself a glorious reputation of being the first Nod commander who has outsmarted Zeratul and the Protoss.

"LEGION, prepare to transmit my message to the Protoss fleet; we'll give them our answers."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER, STANDING BY..."

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; we've received a reply from the terrans..." _a random Zealot reports.

"Protoss commanders; you can just call me the Commander. I represent the Brotherhood of Nod and I'm warning you to stay out of our ways! Mar Sara is now our territory and we can do anything as we please! I'm also warning you to leave the mutant zergs alone; they are necessary to bring a change to this galaxy! Leave now, or we'll show no mercy to even you!"

"_WHAAAT!"_

All the Protoss who have heard this message are stunned, including Zeratul and Furon. These terrans know the existence of the mutant zergs, and yet they are content to let them roam freely! Do they know the grave consequence of their actions? And what is this Brotherhood of Nod? Zeratul has never heard of any terran factions bearing this name.

"_Commander, do you have any idea of what you are speaking about? These mutants carry the cursed strain of Ichor; wherever these mutants go, they deposit Ichor as well! Ichor is a deadly threat, a curse far more dangerous than even the zergs! An Ichor infestation can spread as fast as a zerg infestation, yet their spread is even harder to curb! An Ichor infestation can strip an entire planet out of its resources, and poison all life on a planet! It can kill an entire world!" _Zeratul tries to warn these group of terrans, now known to them as the Brotherhood of Nod.

"Yes, we are fully aware of what your 'Ichor' can do, because we have been using them for centuries, before you have even learnt about them. You Protoss always claim that you all know everything, but it's time to inform you that there are things in this universe that you are not an expert in. Take 'Ichor' for example, or Tiberium in our language; we have known about them centuries earlier before you do. We discover their potential; we recognise the gift among its curse; and we have tamed it! Tiberium is the key to the future, and we will spread its glory across this entire sector, using these mutants!"

"_Are you insane? There can never be any gifts from the accursed Ichor! Stop this madness at once or we'll be forced to destroy you!"_

"Then we'll accept your challenge! We are not afraid of you, Protoss; not even you, Zeratul! With the power of Tiberium on our side, there is no way you can beat us! For our ascension, we'll do anything to spread the glory of Tiberium across the entire universe! One vision! One purpose! PEACE THROUGH POWER!"

"_Fine then, if it's a battle you want, we will deliver! We'll meet in the battlefield, Commander!"_

With that, the transmission between Zeratul and the Commander ends.

"_So, it looks like a negotiation has failed, Prelate."_ Furon speaks up.

"_I'm afraid so, my friend. I believe that these terrans may have been responsible for bringing Ichor into this world at the first place! They may even have been responsible for creating these abominations as well!" _Zeratul replies.

"_Then what are we waiting for, Prelate, we must destroy them before either the threat of these abominations or Ichor can spread to the other worlds! We should commence the incineration!"_

"_Not before our brothers on the surface retreat safely! Why can't you think properly before you act, Furon! Are you going to send hundreds of our brothers below to their unwanted end?"_

Furon remains silent, realising his mistakes. Even if he is stubborn at times, he is aware of his rash behaviour in a battlefield, which can cloud his judgement. Thankfully, a seasoned warrior such as Zeratul is always by his side, ready to give him correct advice.

"_You are right, Prelate. I apologise for my brash behaviour that has almost endangered the lives of our warriors. Right, we'll put our faith to our brave warriors sent to the surface to end the threats of the abominations as soon as possible, then we'll incinerate this planet once the abominations threat has been removed and our brothers retreated from the surface. Relay orders to all ships; charge up your shields and ready your weapons, we'll ready to battle these crazed terran fanatics! All decks on Aiuron, activate the cloaking field and Purifier beams! Destroy all those terran fanatics' ships!"_

"_YES EXECUTOR!"_

The crew of the Mothership _Aiuron_ responds with passion. Within seconds, power is surged across the massive ship, as lights around its weapons begin to shine and sparkle with life, while other Protoss ships close to its vicinity begin to vanish in sight due to the effects of the cloaking field.

"_FOR AIUR!"_

* * *

(To Fleet _Jonah_ side...)

The hangar doors of _Jonah_ and the Basilisk warships open up, releasing hundreds of Venoms into the space. At the same time, cloaked Vertigos and Cobras are also released, which will be heading towards the surface to bomb the Protoss ground troops.

From the hangar of _Jonah_, a single Carryall is also released. This Carryall carries a special stealth generator that can cloak the Carryall itself so well that not even the most advanced sensors from Terran detectors can sense it. Although its capability has yet to be tested against Protoss Observers, it is the best bet to transport the special package to the surface without getting detected.

When the Nod fleet sees a portion of the Protoss fleet has vanished, due to the effects of the cloaking field around the Mothership, they do not panic. The Venom scout fighters' advanced sensory devices can pick up the signals of the cloaked Protoss ships, and transmit their locations back to the other Nod ships. If not, a Medusa can simply fire an EMP missile to the Mothership to shut down its cloaking field.

They are not afraid of the Protoss fleet.

Then, without warning, a medium frigate in the Nod fleet makes the first move. Unlike the Medusa corvette, the frigate is horizontally flat with four warp engines, two on each side. It is armed with 4 missile pods, with each one located underneath each 4 corners of the ship. Like the rest of the Nod ships, it is coloured black and red with the Nod symbol of a scorpion tail inside a hexagon stamped on the hull of the ship. It is a Salamander-class missile frigate.

The Salamander launches the first barrage of Darter missiles against the Protoss fleet, which slam themselves onto the plasma shields of a Protoss Carrier.

All hell have been set loose!

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Warriors

The Brotherhood of Nod has begun engaging the Protoss fleet, but will they stand a chance against the advanced technology and the fearless warrior spirits of the Protoss forces? Will the Tiberium-Zerg mutants be able to get past the blockade set by the Protoss fleet? Will Kane's special package reach to the Commander?

* * *

(1) The Tiberium-Zerg mutant flyers are able to fly across ion storms unharmed. In fact, they can fly faster, heal faster and become more armoured under the effects of an ion storm. This is like the Scrin air units under the effect of an ion storm in Tiberium Wars.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Salamander

Role: Anti-air medium frigate, Anti-Surface napalm bomber

Armament: 4 Darter cluster missile pods, Inferno air-to-surface napalm launcher

Appearance: Similar to Salamander from the C&C4, except bigger at the size of a Terran Valkyrie or Protoss Corsair.

Most of the time, the Brotherhood relies on its numerous numbers of Venom fighters to deal with other aerial threats. However, in a few cases, when multiple enemy fighters are present and even outnumber their Venoms, the Brotherhood will have to rely on another anti-air unit to deal with this type of aerial threats; with Salamander-class missile frigates. Like the Terran Valkyrie-class missile frigates, the Salamanders launch a barrage of Darter missiles against an area of enemy aircrafts, making it devastating to a tightly clustered up light enemy air units. With its missile pods spread out to cover its 4 corners, the Salamanders are capable of dealing with aerial threats from all directions. However, the Darter missiles are not strong enough to penetrate heavy armour, hence it is advised not to deploy them in one on one ship to ship battle.

On the surface, Salamanders can also serve as an air-to-surface bomber by incinerating an area of ground surface using its devastating Inferno napalm launcher. Each of these attacks take quite long to recharge, but is powerful enough to lay waste of any units or structures in the affected area in seconds.

* * *

I'll be taking a vacation at a relative's home, so I'm not sure when will be the next update. I'll try to update as soon as I can.


	14. Act 13: Warriors

I'm back!

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 13: WARRIORS**

(Mar Sara orbit...)

A barrage of rockets, fired from a Salamander-class missile frigate, has slammed against the plasma shield of one of the Carriers.

"_The terrans are attacking us, request permission to retaliate!"_

"_Permission granted! All units, engage the enemy!" _

With Furon's orders, the Protoss ships open fire at the incoming Nod fleet. In response, the Nod ships open fire as well.

Protoss Carriers begin releasing their Interceptor drones en masse, which start to fire at the Nod ships and fighters. Void Rays have begun deploying their prismatic beams, which start to tear apart a few of the Nod ships quickly. _Aiuron _itself is also firing a barrage of purification beams at the Nod fleet, destroying some of the Nod ships in a few rounds.

The Nod fleet is no pushover too. Basilisk warships return fire at the Void Rays with their Spectrum laser, which has proven to be rather devastating against the lightly armoured Interceptors that are unlucky enough to come across its path. Salamanders have proven their usefulness by obliterating the numerous clusters of Protoss Interceptors with their Darter cluster missiles. Some of the Protoss ships have been instantly disabled by the Nod Medusa corvettes with their EMP missiles, while others are obliterated by the Flux cannon. _Jonah _also begins to release its squadron of Sortie Drones to engage the Interceptor drones.

The engagement between Furon's expeditionary fleet and Fleet _Jonah_ has begun...

* * *

(Mar Sara stratosphere...)

The Protoss fighters comprising of Scouts and Phoenixes are still busy destroying and killing all flying mutant zergs that are trying to fly out of Mar Sara atmosphere. They have been given orders to stop these abominations from leaving this world, and they will follow these orders. These flying mutants have proven to be weak and disorganised, making them easy targets for the Protoss fighters. Since the engagement has begun, thousands of aerial mutants have been intercepted and destroyed, while the Protoss fighters have yet to suffer any casualties.

However, the easy task of destroying the mutant flyers is about to face a violent interruption.

Without warning, a barrage of rockets zoom straight towards the Protoss fighters. One of the Scouts have been hit with all of its shields depleted and its hull taking in serious damage. Seconds later, a second barrage takes out the wounded Scout, causing it to explode into a blue fireball.

The Protoss fighter pilots are shocked to see one of their comrades taken out, and it is by rocket fire. Where do those rockets come from? They soon get their answers when Furon relays them a new order,

"_All fighters alert! We have a hostile terran fleet invading this world! Our ships have already engaged the enemy ships! Our Observers have detected enemy fighters entering into this world's atmosphere; their objective is to allow the safe passage of the abominations out of this world and to other worlds. All Scouts are to return back to the orbit and engage the enemy ships! All Phoenixes are to stay and engage the enemy fighters and stop their bombers from attacking our ground forces! Also, do not forget about the abominations and you must still treat them as primary targets!"_

Realising what is going on now, the Protoss fighters begin to follow their executor's orders, as Scouts begin to head back towards the orbit while the Phoenixes turn towards the direction of the Nod fighters.

The approaching Nod Venom fighters launch another barrage of rockets at the Protoss fighters, hitting and destroying a few more Scouts. In an effort to break through the Venom encirclement, Scouts return fire with their own barrage of anti-matter missiles, which instantly obliterate some of the Venoms that fail to manoeuvre out of the way. After clearing the path with their anti-matter missiles, the Scouts make a break out of the stratosphere and towards the orbit, ready to defend the fleet with more of their missiles.

While the Scouts are heading back towards the orbit, the Phoenixes are engaging the Venoms in a massive scale of aerial dogfighting. The Phoenix turns out to be an excellent counter against the Venoms, as they are equally swift and agile as the Venoms and their ion blasters can easily shred through the paper thin armour of the Venoms. The shields and heavier armour of the Phoenixes easily protect them from the rocket fire of the Venoms.

* * *

(On Mar Sara surface...)

Protoss Warp Prisms have deposited Protoss ground troops and Probes onto the surface at multiple locations across Mar Sara, close to the main mutants' hive clusters. Zealots and Stalkers have set foot on the Ichor-infested world. During their mission briefing, they have been told to use their training in the way of Khala to resist the effects of Ichor, just like how they resist the effects of zerg infestation. It works, for now.

As the Probes start to open up warp rifts to bring in Protoss structures in order to set up a base camp in the war against the mutants, they receive warnings from the fleet,

"_We are being invaded by a hostile terran fleet! This group of terrans have aligned themselves with the mutants and they must be vanquished! They have already engaged our ships, and we will be expecting them to attack all of our ground forces too. All units, stay alert for any possible ambushes!"_

Just as the broadcast has ended, another warning is sounded out,

"_Warning, seismic activities detected..."_

At multiple locations, Nod transport drills burst out the ground, releasing MCVs and Nod ground units.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara orbit...)

Furon's fleet is not having an easy time to engage this Nod fleet. Almost all of its smaller fighter-class ships such as Scouts and Phoenixes have been sent to the Mar Sara stratosphere to intercept the mutant zergs, leaving the fleet itself vulnerable to a fighter assault. The enemy Venom fighters may be small and vulnerable, they are fast, agile and numerous, giving the Protoss ships a hard time defending themselves. Although the Venom's firepower is not too strong, focus fire from large numbers of Venoms is still damaging to even the hull of a Protoss ship. Also, the Venom rocket attacks can quickly weaken and deplete the plasma shields of the Protoss ships, leaving them more vulnerable to the more devastating attacks from the Nod ships such as Basilisks.

The Nod ships are no easy opponents for even the Protoss fleet. Basilisks deploy stasis fields to trap a number of Protoss ships and forcing them out of the battle temporarily, giving the Nod fleet an even bigger number advantage over the Protoss fleet. Medusa corvettes' EMP missiles and Flux cannon turn out to be highly devastating against Protoss ships, which the former instantly powers down and depletes the plasma shields of Protoss ships, while the latter instantly vaporises anything it touches. Salamander missile frigates are destroying Carrier Interceptors en masse with their cluster missiles, rendering Protoss Carriers almost useless and defenceless.

As the battle commences, Furon is getting worried. These terrans are far stronger and more cunning than he had anticipated. For every enemy ship destroyed, one of his own is lost too. If this pace keeps going on, the opposing fleet, which outnumbers his, will definitely prevail. Too much warriors have been lost, and this is despite the fact that he had ordered _Aiuron _to turn on its cloaking field to the maximum level, trying to hide and protect as many of his ships as possible. Still, for some reasons, these terrans can somehow locate the cloaked Protoss ships and attack them (1).

Zeratul has to admit that these terrans who call themselves as Brotherhood of Nod are very different from most other terrans that he had met. They are far more organised than most other terran factions, even than the Dominion. Their weapons and equipment are far more advanced for a terran standard; they have access to a few technology that are very similar to theirs, such as stasis field technology (which the Basiliks employ) and prismatic beams (Flux cannon used by Medusa). Although their unique equipments are very fragile compared to the Protoss or even other terrans, their specific roles and multiple special weapons are beginning to cause a huge havoc to Furon's fleet.

Just as the Furon's fleet is facing the crisis of meeting a defeat under the Nod's hands, reinforcements come in the form of Protoss Scouts. These Scouts have returned from the stratosphere and are ready to support the Protoss ships.

"_Executor, the Scouts have returned!"_

_Excellent, I want all Scouts to engage the enemy fighters and ships!"_

_

* * *

_

(Back on Mar Sara surface...)

High Templar Arrakis is overseeing the construction of Expeditionary Camp Arrakis, which is located a few miles away from a mutant hive cluster. Once this camp is set up, Arrakis would be able to warp in enough ground troops to eradicate the hive cluster.

So far, the Nexus and multiple Pylons, Gateways, a Forge and Photon Cannons have been summoned and set up. In a few minutes time, a Cybernetics Core can be warped in too, allowing Arrakis the access of warping in Stalkers and other advanced structures.

Camp Arrakis is now warping in Zealots in preparation for the mission to eradicate the mutant zerg hive clusters. However, just a few minutes ago, Arrakis had received warnings from the fleet that a mysterious terran faction who call themselves as the Brotherhood of Nod had aligned themselves with the mutants. He had been warned that these terrans had begun engaging the fleet, and might have sent forces to intercept their ground troops as well.

Arrakis is not really worried about the terrans. He had fought and engaged them before during the Great War and he can only summarise the terran fighting force in one word...

WEAK.

In Arrakis' mind, terrans are a bunch of inferior beings who are weak in both physical and psionic aspect. They never stand a chance against the Protoss or zergs without their fanciful tools. Arrakis is confident that the fleet would eventually prevail against the terran fleet, and his ground forces would eradicate both the mutant zergs and the mysterious terran faction called the Brotherhood of Nod.

While Arrakis is still deep in thought, a Zealot approaches him and relays a message,

"_High Templar Arrakis, we have just detected seismic activities a few miles away from our camp! What are your orders?"_

'_Seismic activitie... it must be a Zerg Nydus Worm...' _Arrakis ponders, before making his decision,

_Send in a strike force of 20 Zealots! Eliminate that Nydus Worm!"_

_

* * *

_

(A few minutes later...)

A mob of 20 Zealots is rushing towards the source of seismic activities. This group of Zealots are sent to eliminate the Nydus Worm by High Templar Arrakis. They have been warned that they might encounter mutant zergs on their way. Regardless whether there are mutant zergs or not, these Zealots are eager to cut down any enemies standing in their way with their psi blades.

The Zealots are now closing in to the source of seismic activities. They are now just a few hundred metres away from the source. However, as the group continues to advance towards the indicated destination, they begin to feel something fishy...

The Zealots are now a few hundred metres away from the source of seismic activity. The terrain they are currently moving in is a open valley with little vegetation. Theoretically, they should be able to see the Nydus Worm in the area. However, they find nothing; not even a single zerg or a Nydus Worm. The only abnormally that the Zealots find is a single large crater, an indication that something has dug to here before. The Zealots know that zergs may have hidden themselves by burying underground, but Nydus Worm cannot hide itself! So where is the Nydus Worm?

'_This is too abnormal... regardless if there is a Nydus Worm or not, this has to be an ambush!'_

"_It must be a trap! We must call in an Observer before we can proceed!" _The Zealot squad leader orders to his squad comrades, before trying to communicate back to the camp to request for Observer support.

Unfortunately, they are not going to have the chance...

Without warning, gunshots are heard and the plasma shields of a few of the Zealots activate, deflecting off rounds. To the Zealots, this can only mean one thing: an ambush!

"_It's an ambush! Quick, we must retreat!"_

"_This cannot be! Zergs never use any projectile weapons like those of terrans!"_

"_No, this isn't a zerg ambush, it's a terran ambush!"_

The Zealot squad leader desperately tries to find the terrans that are shooting at them, but fails to find any, meaning that these terrans who are shooting at them must have cloaked themselves. Without an Observer to reveal the location of the attackers, the Zealots are mere target boards. This leaves them retreating as their only option left.

The Zealots try to run away from the area, but no matter how fast they run, their pursuers can somehow catch up with them and resume their firing. Shields are depleting fast, as rounds continuously bounce off the plasma shields. Then, one of the Zealots gets hit in the legs, as his plasma shield gets completely depleted from the continuous fire. The wounded Zealot flinches as he clutches his injured leg, trying to bear with the pain and keep on moving, but never gets the chance. As quick as it happens, a few more gunshots are heard, and the head of the wounded Zealot gets busted open. In seconds, the killed Zealot bursts into blue flames, as his spirit gets warped away from his broken body.

Knowing that there is nothing they can do to save their wounded comrade, the remaining Zealots try to continue running away from the danger. However, the shots are coming out from unknown locations non-stop, and the plasma shield of each Zealot is depleting fast. In a matter of seconds, several more Zealots are wiped out by their unknown assailants.

Then, without warning, a large drill bursts through from beneath the ground right under the Zealots, knocking all of them over their feet. The drill tips open up to reveal a Nod Flame Tank. Before the Zealots can get up to their feet, the Flame Tank spews off devastating blue flames at the grounded Zealots. With the depleted shields unable to withstand such intense heat, many Zealots are eradicated as they themselves disappear into blue flames. The remaining Zealots, with their shields fully depleted by the blue flames of the Flame Tank, get picked off one by one by the gunshots of their mysterious assailants.

The last remaining Zealot, the squad leader, sees that there is no chance of escape when such a monster is blocking his only path of escape. With one final war cry, the Zealot squad leader dashes towards the Flame Tank, with psi blades unsheathed. In the end, the last thing the Zealot sees is two bursts of blue flames right into his way.

* * *

(Back in Expedition Camp Arrakis...)

"_High Templar Arrakis, we've just lost contact with the entire strike team!"_ a High Templar apprentice reports.

"_What?"_

"_We can't feel their presence anymore; they must have gone with the khala..."_

Arrakis is shocked; he had just sent 20 of his brave warriors to their doom.

"_How did that happen?" _Arrakis asks. He is demanding for answers of what would have killed off his Zealots.

"_We aren't sure, but we did receive their request for Observer support before they were gone. Whatever that has taken them out must be cloaked, and it might be still lurking over there!"_

Arrakis starts to think over. If he knows that there are hidden enemies around, then he cannot send anymore of his warriors to the same spot recklessly again. He will need to send in a bigger, more prepared strike team.

_Send in 2 Observers to that area first, then dispatch in another strike team composing of 20 Zealots and 10 Stalkers! Take out all enemies that stand in our way!"_

_

* * *

_

(Another few minutes later...)

At the exact same spot where the previous wave of 20 Zealots had been ambushed and eliminated, 2 Protoss Observers are hovering above the area, looking for any presence of enemies in the area. The Observers scan across the landscape, trying not to miss any signs of hostiles. While the Observers are scanning across the area, a squad of 20 Zealots and 10 Stalkers are marching cautiously, on a wary lookout for any possible ambushes.

* * *

(Back in Camp Arrakis...)

Arrakis is staring at a Khaydarin crystal projector inside the main control chamber of the Nexus, which is projecting the images as shown by the Observers. This time, Arrakis is not going to repeat the same mistakes again. He is going to find out what has killed off the first wave of Zealots, and he is not going to let his warriors to die in vain again.

However, as Arrakis continues to watch the projection, he begins to feel more and more puzzled. His forces should have arrived at the vicinity of the source of seismic activities. If Nydus Worms have caused the seismic activities, they should have received a visual of the worms themselves. Yet when his forces had arrived the spot, they see nothing except for a few large craters in the ground.

'_This is... strange! I've never heard of any worms that can retreat back into the ground by themselves... are these additional abilities gained from their mutations?'_

While Arrakis is still trying to figure out what is going on, warning beeps start to sound out. Arrakis immediately turn his attention back to the projection; he knows that these beeps are warning sirens emitted by the Observers to their commanders in the event when hostiles are detected. Soon enough, in the projection, Arrakis can see several figures approaching his forces. The figures are distinctly terran in shape, confirming that the previous unknown assailants are terrans indeed. They also appear to be cloaked as well, further confirming that they are the ones that must have wiped out the previous wave of Zealots.

* * *

(Back to Arrakis' strike force...)

The Protoss warriors are in a state of high alert; they have just been informed of terran ambushers approaching their way. With the aid of Observers, which are transmitting their visions to the warriors themselves through telepathy, they can now be able to see the oncoming terran soldiers.

These terran soldiers appear to be lightly armoured like those of Terran Ghost Operatives. They wear black skin-tight ballistic armour with reddish LED glow, with a red bubble helmet. Each of these soldiers have their backs strapped to a device that appears to be a reactor of some sort. All of them are armed with a pair of gausse machine pistols, similar to those used by Dominion's Reapers.

These are Nod Shadow Warriors, elite special forces of the Brotherhood that excel in taking out their victims in the shadows. Like ninjas, they are expert assassins that can silently kill off their prey without them knowing, thanks to their Shadow armour, which is designed based on the Dominion's Ghost Ops utility suit.

The Shadow Warriors try to sneak towards the Protoss strike force as they did earlier to the previous wave, intending to wipe them out silently without them knowing. Unknown to these Shadows, however, is that they are already being spotted by Protoss Observers above them. As one of the Shadows try to get in closer for the kill, he does not notice one of the Protoss Stalkers is aiming its front right towards him. Before the Shadows can realise what has happened, the Stalker fires off a burst of Particle Disruptors, blasting off the Shadow Warrior into the air.

Realising that they have been discovered, the remaining Shadows begin to de-cloak and start shooting at the Protoss warriors with their gausse machine pistols. Roaring with a war cry, the Zealots unleash their twin psi blades and start running towards the Nod shadowy soldiers, while the Stalkers begin to retaliate by shooting back with their carapace-mounted Particle Disruptors. A melee has just begun...

The Shadows begin to shoot while retreating; they have seen the Zealots trying to close in towards them, and they know very well what would happen if those Protoss zealous warriors manage to catch up with them. The last event they hope to occur is to suffer from a series of vicious slashing by the Zealots' psi blades.

The Zealots are getting frustrated. These terrans are running very fast; even faster than them. Theoretically, a Protoss is physically more superior than a terran in terms of speed, agility or strength; yet these terrans are outrunning them, without the aid of jetpacks or other fanciful gadgets. To make matters worse, those fleet-footed terrans are shooting at them with their weapons while running, depleting their shields fast. If the Zealots are unable to catch up with those Shadows, they will eventually succumb to the hit-and-run attacks. In just one minute, a few of the vanguard Zealots' shield gets completely depleted, and their armour breached. Without cybernetic legs upgrades, the Zealots are no match to the speed of the Shadow Warriors.

As the chase goes on, many of the vanguard Zealots vanish into blue flames, as their spirits warp away from their heavily compromised bodies.

The Nod Shadows are having an easy fight for the moment; all they need to do is to perform their routine hit-and-run attacks which they have been heavily trained on. They have easily dispatched their Zealot opponents this way. However, when Stalkers begin to start chasing them, things are getting a little bit more dangerous. Although the Protoss quadruped walker is no faster than a Zealot, it has the attack range advantage using its particle disruptors. While the Shadows are retreating, the Stalkers are raining suppressive fire against them. No matter how fast a Shadow can run, there is no way to outrun a particle disruptor beam. Some of the Shadow Warriors have fallen in this way, as particle disruptors zap through their bodies before they have a chance to flee.

The Nod special forces know that their light weapons stand little chance against the heavily armoured carapace of a Protoss walker. In an effort to retreat, the Shadow Warriors do something out of ordinary...

With no prior warnings, black and red collapsible paragliders extend out from side of their reactor cores of their power suits, giving an appearance of a pair of wings spread out in preparation for a flight. Like birds soaring into the sky, the Nod Shadows make their escape towards the air.

Surprised at first, the Stalkers quickly recover from their initial shock and quickly resume their pursuit. By aiming their weapons upwards, the greyish quadruped walkers resume their firing towards the now airborne Shadows. Particle disruptor beams easily shred the paper thin paragliders, causing a number of Shadows to fall and crash like wounded birds with their wings clipped. Shadow casualties increase when these sleek walkers use their Blink abilities to teleport and close in the distance, shooting down more paragliding soldiers.

Only a few numbers of Shadows manage to shake off their blinking pursuers, when they activate their cloaking device on their Shadow armour when they are just out of Observers detection range. The casualties many be high for these Nod elites, but they have successfully led the arrogant Protoss ground troops into a trap...

* * *

(Back in Camp Arrakis...)

Arrakis looks in satisfaction as his walkers had dispatched the enemy terran assassins. Although he has to admit that these terrans are no simpletons as they have taken out a number of his Zealots before being forced to retreat. Fortunately, his forces had shown their superiority as a Protoss race and won the day...

Or so he thinks...

Suddenly, the Nexus AI sounds out another warning call,

_Warning, seismic activities detected..."_

_

* * *

_

(Back to Arrakis' strike force...)

The remaining forces of 6 Zealots and 10 Stalkers are still shouting out loud in a war cry, not aware that their celebration will be cut short soon.

Then, the team of jawless aliens feel a series of heavy tremours right beneath them. Before the Protoss can react, they struck...

Several giant, black metallic drill burst out from beneath the earth, right underneath the Protoss strike team.

The impact sends the entire team flying up into the air, heavily draining off their shields and damaging their armour. 2 of the 6 most seriously wounded Zealots instantly vanish into blue wisp of flames. Even the Stalkers are knocked off from their feet.

While the Protoss warriors are struggling to get back on their feet, the drills deploys themselves, releasing squads of Enlightened, Spiders, Scorpion Tanks and Flame Tanks before retreating back into the underground beneath.

As soon as they are released, the Enlightened cyborgs begin to fire EMP cannon shots at the Protoss forces, fully shutting their shields down. Spider cyborgs ensnares the Zealots with their Synthetic Web before they can escape, allowing Flame Tanks to incinerate them. Stalkers are trying to get back to their feet, but are quickly suppressed when Scorpion Tanks grappled them with their EMP claws and start to tear them apart slowly using their Tail Lasers. The Protoss walkers struggle with their might, but all their efforts are in vain, as they are rendered immobile by the regular flow of EMP waves that are disrupting their systems; even their blinking mechanisms are rendered functionless. Eventually, the Stalkers rejoin their Zealot brethrens into the realm of Khala, as their armour completely break apart by the relentless assault of the Nod ambushers.

* * *

(Back in Camp Arrakis...)

Arrakis is furious, and shocked. His forces had been defeated again, by a series of underhanded ambush tactics. The entire skirmish had been recorded down by his Observers, which had transmitted the images back to the Khaydarin crystal projector inside Arrakis' Nexus.

After witnessing the entire skirmish, Arrakis has realised that he has underestimated his enemies; originally he had thought that the main threats are the mutated zergs, but now he has realised that the zergs are a small matter compared to the terrans that have created them, and are now trying to protect them. These terrans are much different compared to those other terrans he had faced in the past; they are more cunning, more organised, more advanced. They appear to be well aware of a Protoss weaknesses, and exploit them without hesitation. They seem to know a lot about the Protoss, while Arrakis has no idea about the true strength of this mysterious group of terrans.

"_High Templar Arrakis, we have lost contact with our 2__nd__ strike team... what are your orders?"_ the High Templar apprentice asks.

Arrakis has to think carefully through this time; the enemy is a complete mystery to them, meaning that it would be too risky to send anymore strike forces to combat this unknown threat.

_We'll have to expand this camp first, young one. Prepare the defences, build up our forces till the maximum limit, then we'll annihilate the abominations and their accursed guardians!"_

_

* * *

_

(Back in Mar Sara City Underground HQ Command...)

"COMMANDER, WE ARE TAKING HEAVY CASUALTIES FROM OUR BATTLES AGAINST THE PROTOSS FORCES! FLEET _JONAH_ HAS LOST MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THE FLEET, WHILE OUR FIGHTERS ENGAGING THE PROTOSS FIGHTERS IN THE STRATOSPHERE HAS BEEN NEARLY WIPED OUT BY 70%."

"LEGION, what about the Protoss ground forces?" the Commander asks.

"THE PROTOSS GROUND FORCES HAS BEEN HALTED BY OUR SUBTERRANEAN AMBUSHES, COMMANDER. THEY HAVE STOPPED SENDING WAVES OF GROUND UNITS AGAINST THE MUTANT HIVE CLUSTERS. HOWEVER, THEY HAVE BEGUN EXPANDING THEIR BASES AND WARPING MORE DEFENCES AND UNITS. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THE PROTOSS FORCES ARE MOST LIKELY TRYING TO BUILD UP THEIR GROUND FORCES BEFORE SENDING THEM TO WIPE OUT ALL THE HIVE CLUSTERS IN ONE FULL SWEEP. IF THEY HAVE SUCCEEDED, THE CHANCES TO ALLOW THE MUTANTS TO SPREAD TO OTHER PLANETS WOULD BE CLOSE TO ZERO!"

The Commander looks into his battlefield control panel to confirm LEGION's findings. Indeed the Protoss ground forces have stopped sending in units to attack the hive clusters and they appear to be building up their forces. If he allows the Protoss to strengthen their numbers, it would be much harder to defend the mutants.

"LEGION, inform all forces to attack the Protoss camps; we cannot afford to allow the 'first-borns' to build up their army!"

"AFFIRMATIVE... TRANSMITTING ORDERS TO ALL BASES..."

The Commander looks back into his battlefield control panel again, before remembering something important,

"LEGION, how longer does it take for our package to arrive?"

"THE CARRYALL WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL THANATOS-CLASS STEALTH GENERATOR IS NOW CLOSING IN TO OUR LOCATION, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE PACKAGE WILL ARRIVE IN... 10 MINUTES!"

"Good! As long as the 'first-borns' did not see it coming, everything is going on as planned. Soon, we can relieve our fleet with Operation: Invitation!"

* * *

(Back in Camp Arrakis...)

"_Warning, seismic activities detected..."_

Arrakis turns back into the Khaydarin crystal projector again. To his astonishment, the Nexus sensors detected multiple presences of small to medium sized terran targets approaching their camp. It seems that the enemy is about to stage an assault against the camp.

"_Inform all soldiers; base is under attack, defend the base at all costs!"_

Camp Arrakis is built above a short plateau, where there is only a small narrow path that will lead to the entrance of the camp. The ridge is protected by one defensive line of Photon Cannons, Stalkers and Sentry drones. Behind the line, a rather a large group of Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries, Immortals and a few High Templar are massing up, preparing to defend their base to the last breath.

Then, without warning, Photon Cannon turrets swivel towards the opposite end of the path and start fire their shots towards the ground. Immediately, Nod Scorpion Tanks and Reckoners burst out of the ground. The sudden emergence of Nod subterranean units prompt the rest of the first line of defenders to shoot at the invaders too.

Upon their emergence, the Scorpion Tanks begin to shoot at the defensive line with their laser cannons as well. Reckoners try to charge into the line itself, while their passengers are shooting at the Protoss defenders. However, the defenders of Camp Arrakis have others in mind. Sentries suddenly set up a barrier wall of force field in front of the base entrance, blocking off the advance of the Nod vehicles. Guardian shields are also set up by the Sentries, softening the ranged attacks of the Nod vehicles. To the frustration of the attacking Nod subterranean vehicles, the Protoss force fields not only pose a barrier on the surface, but even underground too. Unable to slip through, the Nod Reckoners and Scorpion Tanks have no other choices but to surface and combat the Protoss base defenders directly. However, with the supportive fire of Photon Cannons and shielding by Sentries, the Reckoners and Scorpion Tanks are no match against the armour and firepower of the Protoss war machines, ending up as piles of scrap metal in front of the camp.

Shortly after the first wave of Nod assault forces have been wiped out, the Protoss defenders quickly detect the approach of a second wave. The second wave, comprising of more Reckoners and Scorpion Tanks, try to rush into the base entrance through underground before the Sentries can set up another barrier wall of force field. However, before they can do so, Photon Cannons and Stalkers begin to shoot at them, forcing them to surface. Upon surfacing, a mob of Zealots rush in to block off the Nod vehicles using their own bodies, while slashing them with their psi blades. The Scorpion Tanks are the first to fall victim, as their weapons are unsuited to deal with massive numbers of enemies, and their armour are not strong enough to resist the damages inflicted by psi blades. The Reckoners, however, begin to deploy their reinforced platings, while their passengers start to shoot at the Zealots through the Reckoner portholes. In the midst of the melee, some of the Reckoner passengers, all Enlightened cyborgs, walk out of the protection of the Reckoners to engage the Protoss defenders head on. Upon stepping out onto the battlefield, the Enlightened cyborgs fire EMP shots at the Protoss defenders before deploying out their own energy shields and begin to engage the Zealots at close distance. As a result, almost all the Protoss defenders other than Zealots have been disabled, together with their shields being shut down. Seizing the opportunity, the rest of the Nod attackers resume fire towards their disabled Protoss opponents, causing some of the Zealots to disappear into wisps of blue flames, while a number of Protoss war machines to break apart into blue sparks and scrap metals.

However, the advantages held by the Nod attackers do not last long, as High Templars at the rear of the defence line begin to unleash a fury of psionic storms at the Nod war machines. With little warning, massive surges of psionic energies strike down from the skies, forming a storm of destructive psionic forces, short circuiting the Nod cyborgs and destroying the Reckoners into molten piles of reduced metal. For the few numbers of survivors that are lucky enough to escape the wrath of the psionic storm, their luck quickly run out as they fall victim to Zealot strikes. As soon as the storm ends, the last Enlightened fall to the ground, eviscerated from the waist by a Zealot. Still, in its final determination to serve the Brotherhood, the eviscerated Enlightened uses up its last store of energy to crawl up and grab onto the Zealot that has cut it down, before overloading and detonating its Tiberium reactor core. The resulting explosion kills off that Zealot and two more others standing right next to it, damaging the armour of even more others.

With the second wave repelled at the expense of some of their warriors, the Protoss defenders start to rest a bit, taking their time for their shields to slowly recharge and their war machines to recover from the EMP attacks. Just in time, most of the Photon Cannons return back online, to detect the approach of a third wave of enemy attack: Shadows! The Nod Shadow Warriors attempt to sneak into the base by cloaking themselves and sailing through the air with paragliders deployed. Unfortunately for the Shadows, the Protoss defence line detects them just in time, as Stalkers and Photon Cannons start to shoot them down from the skies, forcing the Shadows to beat a hasty retreat. With the third wave repelled, the defenders of the Protoss defence line quickly regroup, preparing for the next wave.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City Nod Underground HQ Command...)

"COMMANDER, WE ARE SUSTAINING HEAVY LOSSES FROM THE BATTLES AGAINST THE PROTOSS PHOENIX FIGHTERS AND THEIR BASES! OUR FIGHTERS HAVE BEEN WIPED OUT BY NEARLY 90%; UNIT LOSS COUNT AT MORE THAN 5000 ACROSS THE ENTIRE PLANET..."

The Commander listens attentively to LEGION's battlefield update, while staring at his battlefield control panel. It appears that LEGION is right; right now the Brotherhood is fighting a losing battle against a determined Protoss side, which had begun to fight a more defensive battle against them. Even though his forces are outnumbering the Protoss forces and the fleet seems to be holding off well, they are still no match against the advanced technology and determination of a stubborn Protoss defence. If the Commander wants to win this battle, he will need even more advanced weaponry. It would be another 5 more minutes before the Thanatos-class Carryall arrive with the package, but it would be all useless if the Protoss are not beaten back and find no point of resorting to incinerating the entire planet. For Kane's plans to work, the Commander must make sure that the Protoss ground forces are fully defeated, forcing the Protoss fleet to have no choice but to use their planetary incineration against the Tiberium-Zerg mutants.

"LEGION, relay orders to all bases to construct Air Towers. We need to construct more aircrafts to defeat the Protoss. Also, we need to construct Tech Labs to get clearance for building Vertigos and other advanced arsenal. We'll be using mainly our air units against the Protoss forces now!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, RELAYING NEW ORDERS TO ALL BASES... STANDBY..."

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara stratosphere...)

The flight of Protoss Phoenix fighter are maintaining flight formation, heading towards the next airspace to engage the flying mutants. They had just engaged and defeated the mysterious terran fighters, and hence are now ready to resume their assaults against the mutants. After facing off against the Venoms, they can only describe them in 2 words:

TOO EASY...

Those fighters are so weak and fragile, that the Phoenix pilots all believe that Mutalisks may prove to be even a better challenge than those tiny fighters. The only advantage those fighters had over them are numbers; but once this factor was taken out of the equation, they proved to be too easy to defeat.

Suddenly, the Phoenix flight pick up signatures of multiple terran fighters heading towards them. When the pilots look into their scanners, they are shocked...

A huge swarm of Nod Venom fighters are heading towards them, numbering more than hundreds...

The Protoss pilots are now starting to get worried; earlier, they can easily defeat those fighters even the enemy had outnumbered them at a near 2:1 ratio. Right now, however, the enemy is swarming over them at more than 10:1 ratio. Even those terran fighters are much weaker than a Phoenix, the outcome is much more unclear when there are this much numbers of enemies.

After much consideration, the Phoenix flight leader decides that they should engage this new wave of enemies; the next flight of mutants are about to leave the planet, and those Venoms are standing in their way. Even if the decision seems suicidal, they have to obey the orders of their executor without question. With determination, the Phoenix head straight towards the Venom cluster, which had just unleashed a massive barrage of rockets towards the Protoss fighters...

* * *

(Back in Camp Arrakis...)

"_I return to serve..."_

Arrakis had begun warping in Immortals to aid in the defence of his expeditionary camp. These heavy quadruped walkers are all what that have been left of the once brave and proud Dragoons. With the destruction of their home world of Aiur, the shrines where Dragoons are created had been lost to the Protoss, prompting them to preserve the remaining ones in the form of Immortals. Much more heavily armoured and equipped with hardened shields and Phase Disruptor cannons, the Immortals themselves form a near impenetrable defence line. With their hardened shields, these stout, heavy walkers easily shrug off any attacks by the Nod forces, even the laser beams from Scorpion Tanks or purifying flames from Flame Tanks. In a few burst of fire, another wave of attacking Nod tanks has been neutralised by the Protoss defence line.

Arrakis is eyeing his current army strength stationed in his camp. He is reaching the maximum permissible population limit, meaning that he will not be allowed to warp in any more troops. With a sizeable army at his disposal, perhaps he is ready to wipe out the mutant hive clusters in one swoop. By stationing a third of his army to defend his camp, he can send the rest to destroy all the mutant hive clusters now, without fear of his enemies breaking into his base. Victory is near...

Standing in front of his army, Arrakis announces to the entire base,

"_Brothers, comrades, fellow warriors... the time has come... to rid this world from the abominations that are threatening to destroy all life in this sector! We have faced many challenges in our quests to stop these scourges. Right now as our other brothers are engaging the abominations and the terran extremists who had created them, we will stand together and annihilate all traces of the abominations and stop this madness before it's too late! We have proven to those terrans that they are nothing! We have beaten their attacks wave by wave, and we still stand! We will be victorious! Brothers, let us unite against these abominations! FOR AIUR!"_

"_For Aiur!"_

The entire Protoss army under the leadership of High Templar Arrakis shout out loud in response of Arrakis' decision to launch an all-out attack against the mutant hive clusters. Victory is drawing near; soon this quest is going to be complete, and they can earn the honour of standing victorious against the combined might of a new terran enemy and their created horrors.

As morale in Expeditionary Camp Arrakis is running high, none of the Protoss are aware of a flying wave of doom heading towards the base from a few miles away, threatening to lay waste of the entire camp...

* * *

(Back on board in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_What is the situation on the surface?" _Furon demands to know how his ground forces are doing on Mar Sara.

"_We have suffered heavy losses from Nod ambushes, but we did successfully prevent any of the abominations from leaving this planet. Our ground forces had already destroyed 4 primary hive clusters and 2 of these Nod bases, and we had warped in enough units in preparation to fully eliminate all threats on the planet!" _a High Templar aide reports.

"_Excellent! Our victory is drawing near; once all hive clusters are eliminated, we can leave this forsaken world immediately!"_ Furon declares. The fleet battle against the Nod fleet has been causing numerous ship losses and Furon is eager to quickly finish this battle against the mutant zergs. Even though he may be rash at times, he is not foolish enough to stay around and combat the overwhelming Nod fleet. Despite the arrival of Scouts to even out the odds, the Nod fleet is still wreaking severe damage to the entire fleet. _Aiuron _itself is also starting to take in damage, making it a priority for the entire fleet to retreat as soon as possible before there are more losses.

Zeratul, on the other hand however, is not feeling as optimistic as his companion. Although their forces appear to be winning against the mutants and Nod forces on the surface, he keeps having a sinking feeling that something disastrous is about to happen.

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City...)

"_GRRRAAARRRGGGHHH..."_

A Zealot vanishes into a wisp of blue flames, as he perishes against the might of a Viper Laser Turret that is guarding the Nod base constructed in Mar Sara City. Another failed attempt by the Protoss in trying to wipe out the Nod defenders that are guarding a nearby Tiberium-Zerg hive cluster.

Though this base has been successfully fending off waves of Protoss assaults, it is unknown how much longer can it last. The next waves are always bigger and harder to defeat, and according LEGION's update, 2 other bases on this planet had already been fallen. Fortunately, the Commander had just finished preparing their final counter attack against the Protoss invaders, and had sent in a wave of recently built aircrafts against the Protoss. The question is will they be able to make it on time.

Just then, the roar of a Carryall engine sounds out across the entire base. At the main tunnel entrance that leads to the Underground HQ Command, a Carryall de-cloaks as it touches down onto a make-shift landing pad. This Carryall is unique in the way that it is one of the few Carryalls installed with a state-of-the-art Thanatos-class stealth generator, a powerful cloaking device that is said to be able to fully mask the presence of the Carryall in the way that even the Dominion's most advanced scanners are unable to track it. Now, it has also proven to be successful against the eyes of Protoss Observers. After the Mar Sara Insurrection, the Thanatos-class stealth generator has proven to be a success, despite it is still impossible for the Brotherhood to begin mass production for the device since the materials required for construction of these devices are too hard to obtain.

The Carryall releases its cargo, which turns out to be a huge warhead that has a biohazard warning symbol stamped onto it. The warhead is placed on a trailer, which is in turn pulled by a Reckoner into the tunnel.

* * *

"COMMANDER, THE PACKAGE HAS ARRIVED!"

"Excellent, begin to set it inside this facility. Operation: Invitation is almost complete!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Operation: Invitation

The special package that Kane and the Commander has arrived. What is the special package and what does it do? How will the Nod's counter attack fare against the Protoss army, which is now in high morale of almost eliminating all of the Tiberium-Zerg mutant hive clusters. Will the mutants escape?

* * *

(1) Unknown to Furon, Fleet _Jonah_ is able to locate the cloaked Protoss ships due the Venom fighters, which are detectors, exposing their whereabouts.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Shadow Warrior

Role: Stealth anti-personnel special forces

Armament: Twin gausse machine pistols, C4 explosives, Shadow armour, Shadow reactor, Collapsible paragliders

Appearance: Similar to Shadow Team of C&C3, with armour that appears more similar to those of Terran Specters.

The Nod Shadow Warriors, or Shadows for short, are elite members of the Black Hands that have been trained in the ancient arts of ninjutsu, making them fast-running assassins that excel in close combat and hit-and-run tactics. With their Shadow armour, which is rumoured to be designed based on stolen Ghost armour, allow them to blend into their surroundings, rendering them invisible unless spotted by detectors. Armed with twin gausse machine pistols, Shadows can make short work of enemy infantries and other light units, while C4 explosives can easily demolish enemy structures. They are, however, weak against heavily armoured units. Still, if they ever get into difficult situations, they can always escape through the air by deploying their collapsible paragliders, which the Brotherhood believes to be more silent and stealthy compared to jet packs of Dominion's Reapers.

* * *

My Nod Structures

**Air Tower**: Builds and train air units and summons in ships from the orbit.

**Tech Lab**: Unlocks clearance to construct more advanced structures and units. Also provides upgrades for vehicles and aircrafts.

More structure list coming soon...

* * *

I'm sorry that I am taking so long to update this time. I have been playing the recently released Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, busy with university projects, and suffering a writer's block for the time being. I will still try to update as soon as I can.

For those who have played C&C3 Tiberium Wars, I guess most of you should have guessed what is the special package. If not, here's a hint; it'll need a very powerful blast in order to detonate.


	15. Act 14: Operation: Invitation

Congrats to SulliMike23, RedTitanAlpha and MegaAuthor for guessing the correct answer on what is the special package, though I think most of you other people should be able to know what is too. I guess the hint is rather obvious, isn't it?

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 14: OPERATION: INVITATION**

(Protoss Expeditionary Camp Arrakis, Mar Sara...)

A large Protoss ground army comprising of Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries, Immortals and some High Templars, led by the veteran High Templar Arrakis, is massing up in the camp. Earlier, they had sent in two waves of strike teams only to lose them to Nod ambushes. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake again, High Templar Arrakis had decided to expand and defend the base as well as massing up a much larger army first before trying to wipe out all enemies, Nod and mutants, together in one swoop with overwhelming numbers. The Nod forces appeared to have seen through their tactics, and had been sending waves and waves of vehicles to try to destroy the base before the army can be warped in. Fortunately, the base's defences did well to repel off all the attacks. Arrakis had also heard that elsewhere, several mutant hive clusters had already been destroyed by other camps, even including 2 of these Nod bases. Soon, it is going to be their turn. With the fleet doing a good job to prevent the escape of any mutants, it seems that this battle is going to be won.

"_Brothers, victory is near! Let us march out and destroy all enemies; abominations and their creators alike! For Shakuras, and for Aiur!"_

"_FOR AIUR!"_

The army is about to march out of the base, ready to take the fight back to their enemies. With a superior number like this, they have no fear of any ambushes...

And they are unaware of a looming threat...

Just as they are about to march out, Photon Cannon defence turrets suddenly activate and start shooting at directions outside of the camp, shocking the army. It is known to all Protoss warriors that Photon Cannon defence turrets are equipped with their most advanced sensors similar to those used by Observers, and they are capable of detecting cloaked targets.

"_Another ambush? All units, hold your ground!"_

Realising that there is another possible attack by the terran faction known as Brotherhood of Nod, Arrakis immediately orders his marching troops to stop and hold their grounds first. After a few encounters with this new enemy, Arrakis had learnt that these terrans prefer to use advanced cloaking technology and subterranean movements to ambush their opponents. If the defences detect a hidden presence that they do not see, it is better choice for them to trust their defences, as the Nod forces may be close by.

Receiving their leader's orders, the Protoss army brace themselves and stay alert, ready to respond to any threats. They are ready to defend their base, destroying and repelling Nod vehicles as in earlier waves.

Unknown to them, this wave is going to be different than the previous ones.

Just then, images of the cloaked enemies have been transmitted psionically to the minds of the Protoss army. To their shock, this wave is not just any subterranean strike or an occasional Shadow infiltration attempt...

It is an airstrike... by a massive flight of more than 20 medium-sized bat-winged bombers, flying right straight towards them at high speed.

With this kind of new threat, only Stalkers and Sentries are able to shoot them down alongside with Photon Cannons.

* * *

(To the Vertigos...)

The flight of Vertigo Bombers are heading at top speed towards their assigned Protoss base. From their mission briefing, this base is one of the largest and most heavily defended in the region. Already, dozens of waves of Nod assaults had been repelled. If they can bombard and severely weaken the base, not only will they prevent those Protoss from killing anymore Tiberium-Zerg mutants, they many also demoralise the entire Protoss army by laying waste one of their major base of operations on this planet.

As the flight approaches the base, they can already see Protoss Photon Cannons, Stalkers and Sentries trying to shoot them down, even though they have already cloaked themselves. Despite the heavy concentration of anti-air fire, the Vertigos maintain their flight formation. As they get in closer, a few of these Vertigos are blown off from the sky, plummeting towards the ground in flames. Unfazed by the loss of their comrades, the Vertigos press on. Finally, they are now entirely above the Protoss base.

* * *

(Back to Camp Arrakis...)

The defenders are trying their best to halt this airstrike, but there is too many of them. Realising that an attack is imminent, Sentry support drones start to deploy their Guardian shields, hoping to soften whatever attacks that the Nod aircrafts trying to deliver.

Then, when the aircrafts are directly above them, they see the bomb bay doors opening, and prepare to brace for impact. Unknown to the Protoss, however, they may not be able to survive what is coming right up.

BOOOOOOMMM... BOOOOOOMMM... BOOOOOOMMMMMM... ...

As quickly as the Nod bombers fly by, as quickly as the Protoss base begins to burn. The Vertigos have dropped in their payload of Groundpounder napalm bombs, instantly incinerating the entire Protoss base.

Despite the added protection of Sentry-deployed Guardian shields, the entire Protoss army has been burnt to the ground. The firepower is too much for even the combined protection of plasma shields, Guardian shields and Protoss armour to hold. To make matters worse, the blue purifying flames continue to burn and multiple flames begin to erupt into a blue firestorm. In an instant, all Protoss infantries, including Zealots and High Templar, vanish within the flames. Sentries are also burnt into cinders instantly. Only several walkers, including all the Immortals survive the bombardment. The defence turrets are not faring well either, as more than half of the defences have been destroyed. All the major Protoss structures have survived the bombardment; but the Pylons are not that lucky. As a result, the entire Camp Arrakis is now non-functional except for the Nexus itself, which is also heavily damaged.

While the survivors are trying to recover from the airstrike, they frantically await for the orders of the camp leader. Before that can occur, however, they hear another boom from a distance, originating from the base entrance.

Immediately after the airstrike is over, another wave of Nod subterranean vehicles has struck. Taking advantage of the severely weakened defences, the Scorpion Tanks and Reckoners attack.

Near the entrance of the Nexus, Arrakis stirs. Somehow, he has managed to survive the airstrike and the firestorm that follows up next. As he stands up and surveys his surrounding, he can tell that he is in deep trouble...

The entire army, which he had spent hours trying to warp in and gather, had been almost wiped out in an instant. Only a few Stalkers and Immortals had survived the airstrike; the rest had perished. Worse still, the enemy seems to have coordinated their attacks very well, as another wave of Nod vehicles are trying to break in. Looking around himself, Arrakis realises that all Pylons have been destroyed too, meaning that the entire base is powerless, and non-functional. Now the remaining defenders are struggling to hold off the follow-up attacks.

A revelation has hit Arrakis; he has lost. This battle has already been lost for Arrakis. With the entire base non-operational and his army annihilated, Arrakis knows that there is no way he can reverse this predicament. The remaining walkers themselves also seem to be fighting a losing battle. Without their plasma shields, the Stalkers and Immortals are completely vulnerable to any forms of attacks.

Arrakis cannot believe it; he has lost, lost to terrans who he had been despising all the time. Yet it is such an irony that he would be ultimately defeated by terrans nonetheless. Still, even if he has lost this battle, there is still one way he can preserve his honour. Using his final ounce of strength, Arrakis unleashes a powerful psionic storm at his enemies, destroying a Scorpion Tank and a Reckoner. Before he collapses out of exhaustion, a few rounds from a Raider strike him across his failing body.

"_Finally... I am one with the Khala... forgive my... failure... exe...cu...tor... urrrggghhh... ..."_

With that, the High Templar known as Arrakis has passed on. A wisp blue flames erupt as his spirit warps away from the broken body.

Shortly after the fall of Arrakis, Nod forces begin to pour in, burning down the entire Expeditionary Camp Arrakis to the ground.

* * *

(Mar Sara stratosphere...)

The Phoenix flight leader curses inwardly. Why? Because just a minute ago, their flight had no problems dealing with the mutant fliers and Nod fighters at all. Then, out of nowhere, a large flight of more than hundreds of Nod Venoms poured in, firing an inescapable barrage of rockets towards them. As a result of the barrage, about 1/3 of the entire flight got wiped out in an instant. The rest either had their shields severely depleted, or their armour breached and plane wounded.

Right now, the Phoenix flight had been locked into another massive scale of dogfighting with the Nod fighters. However, despite their advantage in firepower and armour, they had been seriously outnumbered by the smaller and more nimble Venoms. Already weakened by the initial barrage, the Phoenixes are no match against the overwhelming numbers of Venoms. Rockets slamming into the hull of the Protoss fighters, many Phoenixes explode into dazzling blue fireworks and falling gold metal pieces.

Although the Phoenixes themselves have taken out enemy Venoms as well, there is just simply too many of them. For every 2 to 3 Venoms taken out, one of them has been lost as well; and the fact is the enemy is outnumbering them at a ratio of more than 10:1. Most importantly, the Venoms are preventing them from fulfilling their primary objective of intercepting the mutant fliers.

To the despair of Phoenix flight, a pack of mutant Mutalisks and Overlords are seen flying off from the stratosphere, heading towards space and beyond. They have failed! They have let some of the abominations to escape their confinement!

"_This is Phoenix flight leader Oryon; we have been vastly outnumbered by enemy fighters and are taking heavy losses! The terran extremists had succeeded in diverting our attention to allow the escape of a number of abominations into the space! I believe you should be having them in your sight, executor! Requesting further orders!"_

* * *

(Inside bridge of Protoss Mothership _Aiuron_, Mar Sara orbit...)

Furon and Zeratul had just received the transmission sent by the Phoenix flight leader Oryon; and they don't like it!

This is a disturbing news; if the mutants manage to leave the planet and spread their range to other planets, Ichor would be deposited and spread to other planets as well, causing a widespread Ichor infestation across the entire sector. If left uncontrolled, Ichor would strip life from entire planets, causing widespread death and disaster. Imagine what would happen if Ichor finds its way to Shakuras...

For both Protoss commanders, there is another reason why they must prevent the spread of Ichor across the entire sector. If the records found in the relics discovered by Zeratul not long ago are true, then there is the risk that Ichor would attract the attention of another possible new breed of invaders; what could be possibly the fourth creation...

The abominations must be stopped at all costs!

"_Oryon, I want you and your brothers to retreat back to the fleet right now! We'll have to take those abominations out at all costs!" _Furon orders.

"_But what about the terran fighters? There's too many of them!"_

"_Ignore them! Try to break out and return here immediately! The abominations are the priority targets! Return here, right now!"_

"_Yes, executor!"_

Just then, a Zealot reports to Furon,

"_Executor, we've spotted the abominations!"_

Furon looks out of the control bridge, and soon spots the mutant zerg fliers, attempting to slip through the midst of the fleet battle.

"_Order the Carrier Raz'agul to intercept them! They must be stopped!"_

"_Executor, another pack has been spotted, towards our left!"_

"_Order the Carrier Fenrix to intercept that pack!"_

"_Executor, two more packs have been spotted!"_

"_Contact Scout Flight Aquila to intercept those two packs!"_

"_Executor, Raz'agul is under attack by the enemy ships..."_

Furon face palms in frustration. The entire battle is a mess out there; their fleet is fighting a losing battle, their fighters defeated and the abominations are about to escape!

'_What is my army doing down there on the surface? Haven't they wiped out the hive clusters?'_

Soon Furon would receive his answer...

* * *

(Mar Sara City Nod Underground HQ Command...)

"Sir, the bomb is almost set! We estimate that it would be another 10 more minutes before it is ready!" a random Nod Saboteur reports to the Commander.

"Good! Order the men to prepare the Thanatos, and load every important documents onto it. Once the bomb is all set, get all men to get into their respective transports. We're leaving!"

"Yes sir!"

Just then, LEGION decides to ask the Commander about something,

"COMMANDER, ARE WE GOING TO CEASE THE ATTACK AGAINST THE PROTOSS FLEET?"

The reply goes by,

"No! We'll resume the assault against the Protoss ships, but we must not destroy all of them. Zeratul is in that fleet and if we suddenly cease the attack, he might suspect something and dare not authorise the incineration. Hence we must continue to pressurise them to give them the impression that they have no choice other than planetary incineration. LEGION, plot course for Thanatos to fly back to _Jonah_. I'll be on board of Thanatos and returning to my ship as well. LEGION, inform the crew of _Jonah _to prepare for my arrival!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER..."

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_Executor Furon, Prelate Zeratul; all forces on the ground except for Expeditionary Camp Atreidis have been defeated!"_

"_WHAT?"_

Furon cannot believe it! Is the Brotherhood of Nod so strong that even his elite warriors are no match against this new threat? At least he has found out the reason why the flying mutants are still popping out.

While Furon is still trying to figure out what to do, Zeratul decides that it is time to intervene.

"_How many forces are there still remaining in Camp Atreidis?"_

"_Only a few squads of Zealots, Sentries, walkers and High Templars. There are also 3 Archons that had been merged during the battle. Currently, the camp is still holding off quite well, but we fear that they won't last any longer."_

Zeratul listens attentively to the battle report relayed by the young High Templar initiate messager, before making a decision,

"_This ground battle is a lost cause; there is no point in further wasting lives and holding off in a losing battle; order all forces on Camp Atreidis to prepare for a full-scale retreat back to the fleet! Prepare some landing forces to defend the retreating party as well!"_

"_As your command, Prelate Zeratul!"_

"_Oh, and prepare the Void Seeker (1) too; I'll be personally overseeing the evacuation operation!"_

"_You're going down there too, Prelate Zeratul?"_

"_Yes..."_

"_... ... it will be done!"_

Just then Furon finally breaks the silence,

"_Initiate, I want you to inform High Templar Atreidis that I am demanding him to contact me right now!"_

"_It will be done, executor!"_

Zeratul can read what is in the mind his companion, and he realises the risky plan that Furon is currently planning.

"_Furon, you're planning to incinerate the planet, aren't you?"_

"_I have no choice, prelate, this is the only way to ensure that the abominations will not leave this world!"_

"_But do you realise the possible consequences of your actions?"_

"_I know! That's why I am trying to contact High Templar Atreidis! During the battle, I'd ordered Atreidis to not just set up a camp, but also an extraction site so that our scientists can extract and study the structures of Ichor. So far, they had successfully extracted several samples of Ichor and had safely encased them in Vespene tanks_ (2)._ Currently, they have already begun trying to unlock the secrets of Ichor. If they have determined that the psionic energy levels trapped inside each Ichor crystal is too unstable, I would call off the incineration; if not, I would proceed the incineration after all ground forces have been evacuated."_

Zeratul is impressed. Furon may be brash and reckless at times, he sometimes does show his calm and calculating side even during a crisis; traits that allow him to get promoted into an executor.

"_Very well, let's begin for the evacuation..."_

* * *

(Back in Mar Sara City Nod main base...)

"COMMANDER, THE BOMB IS ALL SET AND READY TO BE DETONATED!"

"Good! What about the situation of the Protoss forces, LEGION?"

"THE PROTOSS FIGHTERS HAVE ALL RETREATED BACK TO THEIR FLEET. ALL PROTOSS BASES EXCEPT FOR THE LARGEST ONE 50 MILES AWAY FROM HERE HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY OUR FORCES."

"Then what about their fleet?"

"THEY HAVE LOST ABOUT HALF OF THEIR ENTIRE FLEET, BUT IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THEY WOULD STILL HAVE SUFFICIENT FIREPOWER TO CARRY OUT THEIR PLANETARY INCINERATION OPERATION."

"Perfect! Then proceed as planned... LEGION, inform all bases to prepare for their evacuation! It would be a waste of resources to lose so many men to the Protoss incineration."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... TRANSIMTTING NEW ORDERS..."

As LEGION is preparing to transmitting the new orders from the Commander, the Commander himself boards onto the Carryall that brings the package itself down to here; the Carryall that is armed with the Thanatos-class stealth generator. The Commander is planning to board this ship and stealthily return back to _Jonah _in the planet's orbit.

As soon as the Commander has boarded the craft, the Carryall takes off, and vanishes into plain site as its Thanatos-class stealth generator is activated. With a boom, the Carryall accelerates into the skies, heading towards the orbit...

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_Executor Furon, this is High Templar Atreidis speaking; we had studied and analysed Ichor as you had commanded! From what we had found, each Ichor fragment did have a trace amount of unstable psionic energy locked inside. In a single crystal, the amount is tiny; but in large concentration, the amount that can be unleashed is devastating! However, we also did find out that if we can fire an energy weapon of a specific wavelength, we can destabilize the entire Ichor structure and create a chain reaction that can eliminate all traces of Ichor on the entire planet! We'll be transferring our finds to the ship right now!"_

Furon quickly begins to study the finds by Atreidis as the data gets transferred into _Aiuron_'s AI. As he glances along, he feels ecstatic; if the finds are true, then there is a way to purge the entire population of Ichor and its mutated zergs in one whole swoop. Furon quickly returns to contact Atreidis of his plans,

"_Atreidis, I want you and your warriors to begin evacuation right now! Retreat back to the fleet; there will be a purification going under way!"_

"_Are you going to command a planetary incineration, executor?"_

"_Yes! That is right!"_

"_But an incineration would..."_

"_If your finds are correct, then there will be one way to purge all Ichor and its abominations in one whole swoop! By adjusting the wavelenght of our purification beams, we can fully destabilize Ichor's entire structure and produce a chain reaction that can destroy all Ichor and the abominations! If we are fortunate, it might annihilate the terran extremists too! The energy of the blast and the destabilized molecules should be enough to shield the release of the unstable psionic energies! This is the only way we can win this war!"_

"_... ...then as you wish executor... we'll be preparing for a full retreat!"_

Zeratul was preparing to leave for the surface to assist the retreat, when he overheard what Furon had said. The plan sounds foolproof, but Zeratul just keeps feeling that something bad is about to happen.

"_Furon, are you sure that this would work?"_

Furon turns his head and faces the ageing Dark Templar, replying,

"_It has to work! It is our only way of victory now! Unless you have better options, prelate?"_

Zeratul sighs. Furon is right in a way that he has no other better options in halting the spread of Ichor and the mutants' escape. Right now the many mutants have begun showing up in the planet's orbit, so close to leaving this world. So far his ships manage to stop them from going any further, but for how long? The enemy Nod's ships are still hammering their fleet and if this goes on, they may not have enough firepower left for even a planetary incineration. The Ichor and the abominations are the priority, maybe Furon's plan is the only way out.

"_Very well, I'll leave the purification to you! Once all Protoss are out of the surface, you may proceed with the incineration!"_

Furon is feeling proud; the legendary dark prelate has accepted his ideas!

"_Thank you prelate! I will not let you down!"_

* * *

(Control bridge of Nod flagship _Jonah_, Mar Sara orbit...)

The door of the control bridge opens, revealing the Commander and his Confessor escorts entering into the room. All officers immediately salute to the highest command in this fleet, in which he greets back.

The Commander approaches the main battlefield control panel and asks,

"So what is the status of the fleet?"

One of the officers reply,

"Sir, we have lost about 30% of the entire fleet; but we can still fight on sir!"

"What about the 'first-borns'?"

"They have lost about almost half of their entire fleet, but all of their shields are almost depleted; we are about to deal them the finishing blow!"

"Listen, I want you all to destroy all their fighters, Void Rays and Warp Prisms, but leave the Carriers and the Mothership intact."

"But sir, if we can kill off their capital ships first, wouldn't it be..."

"The prophet requires these ships to be intact if his plans are to be carried out! Now do as I said, that's an order!"

"Yes sir!"

"Good! LEGION, contact the rest of the fleet to carry out the plans that I have just said; contact all Salamanders to ready to deal with all Carrier Interceptor threats!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... TRANSMITTING NEW ORDERS..."

* * *

(Expeditionary Camp Atreidis, 50 miles away from Mar Sara City...)

"_Hold them back! We cannot allow the enemies to overrun us!"_

High Templar Atreidis barks out as defending Zealots, Sentries and Walkers are trying to repel waves of Nod ground units from trying to overrun their base. The retreat order has been given, and special Portals have been set up to allow Atreidis' troops to directly retreat back to the fleet. Others start to board Warp Prisms, which disintegrate the Protoss troops into molecules and store them inside their crystal core. Despite the measures taken to ensure the quick evacuation of the entire expeditionary camp, it will be going to take some time before the entire camp can be fully evacuated.

"_WE CANNOT HOLD!"_

One of the Zealots exclaim as a pair of Nod Flame Tanks approach and start to spray destructive blue purifying flames at the base defenders. The Nod tanks had already succeeded in destroying all the defensive structures such as Photon Cannon Turrets, leaving only units to cover the evacuation operation. With more Nod tanks pouring in, combined with the occasional harassment by Nod bombers and gunships, the base is close to falling into the hands of the Brotherhood.

Just as hope seems to be lost, suppression fire begin to rain upon from the sky onto the Nod armour column. As combatants of both sides look up, they find a flight of Warp Prisms, escorted by Scouts and a single Carrier, has arrived. For the Nod attackers, it is a sense of frustration, seeing more nuisance showing up to stop their plans. For the Protoss defenders, it is a relieving sight, seeing more transports to bring them back to the safety of the fleet.

Then, another ship begins to appear from the sky. This ship has a very weird shape, even to Protoss standards. It is horizontally flat and disc-shaped with sharp, tapered ends on both head and tail ends. The front end appears to be slightly hollowed out, leaving an orb or portal-like structure in the middle, directly in front of the cockpit. The ship has a purple-greyish colour scheme, indicating its closest allegiance to those of the Dark Templars. Overall, the ship resembles a flat, flying Gateway with pointed ends.

To the Protoss veterans on the battlefield, they can instantly recognise this ship; and to them, it is a welcoming sight...

The _Void Seeker_ approaches the ground, and orientates itself in the way that its head end faces directly the surface, levitating a short distance above the surface. In this way, it truly resembles some kind of a portal.

Out from the portal, a lone Dark Templar stands out, facing the battlefield...

"_It's Prelate Zeratul! The Dark Prelate is here to assist us!" _The Protoss defenders cheer out in a war cry, morale boosted by the arrival of the legendary Dark Templar who had personally executed the Second Overmind.

The Dark Prelate scans the base and the battlefield, realising the disadvantage situation his forces are in. However, there is still a slim chance that they may be able to pull off a successful retreat.

Upon seeing the Dark Prelate, Atreidis quicly approaches to greet his superior.

"_En taro Tassadar, Prelate Zeratul! It is an honour for us to witness your arrival!"_

"_En taro Tassadar, Atreidis! You have done well in maintaining this evacuation! Now carry on, while I will assist in your retreat!"_

With that, Zeratul channels his Void powers and cloaks himself, rushing towards the battle.

"_It shall be done, prelate!" _Atreidis responds, before proceeding to direct the evacuation of the rest of the camp.

* * *

(In the midst of the battle between Nod forces and Camp Atreidis defenders...)

Nod tanks are steamrolling towards the base, threatening to wipe out anything that is trying to stand in their way. On their rear, Nod infantries and cyborgs are providing suppressive fire onto the Protoss defenders, depleting their shields and making them vulnerable against the Nod's tank onslaught. For every inch the Nod forces advance, dozens of more courageous Protoss warriors fall against their might.

Just then, a blur can be seen entering into the fray of battle. In an instant, one of the Scorpion Tanks has its Tail laser cannon cleanly cut off, followed by a loud explosion that takes out the crippled tank. Before the Nod armour column can realise what has happened, the supporting infantries at the rear start to fall one by one by mysterious means. Many Devouts can be seen eviscerated from the waist up, clearly to be chopped off by a powerful energy weapon, as the cut wounds appear to be burnt. Enlightened and Spider cyborgs also begin to receive the full blunt of the mysterious assailant, with many ended up with dismembered limbs, evisceration from waist up or even beheaded heads. One by one, the Nod infantries start to drop dead.

The Protoss defenders are surprised at first by the sudden turn of events. When they look carefully at who is killing their enemies, they cheer in excitement. Although the mysterious assailant appears to be cloaked, there is no doubt to the fellow Protoss warriors who are able identify the vast psionic energy emitted by the assailant.

"_It's Prelate Zeratul! We're saved!"_

With Zeratul joining in the battle, the rest of the surviving defenders have their morale boosted and begin to fight even harder.

After slaying a large bulk of Nod infantries, Zeratul turns his attention to a Flame Tank that has been killing a lot of his fellow warriors. With his warp blade unleashed, Zeratul rushes towards the Flame Tank, which has not noticed his approach. As he closes in, he makes a powerful leap and lands onto the massive armoured turret of the Flame Tank. With a few strokes of his warp blade, Zeratul delivers a few slashes onto the armoured fuel tanks of the Flame Tank, before leaping off again. After a few seconds Zeratul has leapt off the tank, the Flame Tank explodes into a volatile ball of fire, engulfing many other nearby Nod units in the vicinity.

Shortly after the destruction of the Flame Tank, the rest of the Nod armour column wave has been wiped out by the rest of the defenders. Seizing this brief moment of break, Zeratul addresses his fellow warriors,

"_Brothers! We shall stand together to fight off the enemy! A purification is on its way, and we must fight to cover every brother's safe retreat back to the fleet! We shall hold off the enemy and no brothers will be left behind! For Shakuras! FOR AIUR!"_

"_FOR AIUR!"_

The rest of the Protoss warriors shout out in a war cry manner. Just then, a second wave of Nod tanks and infantries can be seen approaching. However, this time the Protoss defenders are not intimidated at all. Inspired by Zeratul's speech, they will fight till the end, to make sure that no brother is to be left behind. Soon the Brotherhood of Nod is going to taste the full might of Protoss planetary incineration, and they will have the last laugh eventually.

Undeterred by the Nod approach, the Protoss forces, under the lead by Zeratul, charge towards to engage their opponents...

* * *

(Back in _Jonah..._)

"COMMANDER, WE HAVE DETECTED THE SIGNATURES OF THE PROTOSS DARK TEMPLAR ZERATUL IN THE FINAL PROTOSS BASE ON MAR SARA. ZERATUL IS INFLICTING HEAVY CASUALTIES ON OUR FORCES AND HAS BEEN ASSISTING THE REMAINING PROTOSS ARMY IN DEFENDING THEIR FINAL BASE."

The news of Zeratul's direct involvement alerts the attention of the Commander. After a few minutes of consideration, the Commander asks,

"LEGION, is the Protoss making a last stand or are they trying to evacuate?"

"SCANS HAVE INDICATED MULTIPLE PRESENCE OF WARP ENERGIES AND TRANSPORTS, HENCE IT IS SAFE TO PRESUME THAT THE FINAL PROTOSS BASE IS MOST LIKELY TRYING TO EVACUATE THEIR LAST REMAINING GROUND FORCES FROM THE SURFACE BACK TO THEIR NEAREST OUTPOST, WHICH IS MOST LIKELY TO BE THEIR FLEET."

"In this case, let them be! Our priority is to force the Protoss to use their planetary incineration technology on this planet. The Protoss usually do not retreat from a fight, unless it is one that they are certain that they cannot win; or they are planning to incinerate the entire world. This is an essential step to allow the messiah to once again invite... the visitors!"

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER..."

"However, we have to keep up the pressure so that Zeratul will not suspect something is amiss; LEGION, begin sending in some Chameleon Artilleries against that Protoss base!"

* * *

(Back in Camp Atreidis...)

'_This is... weird...'_

That is inside the mind of Zeratul. As the battle to defend the evacuation of Camp Atreidis progresses, Zeratul notices that the number of Nod units attacking has dropped. There have been fewer attacks and Zeratul's few remaining warriors have a rather easy time to defend the entire base. Although it is a good news for Zeratul, since it means that the evacuation operation would be an easy success, it just simply makes no sense.

"_Prelate Zeratul, we have almost evacuated the entire camp! All scientific and technical experts have been safely evacuated back to Aiuron! We are the only ones remaining..." _Atreidis reports, before noticing the grim look on Zeratul's face, _"... what is bothering you, prelate?" _

"_I suspect something is not quite right; this evacuation seems to be carried out smoothly... too smoothly..."_

"_Are you suspecting it can be some sort of a trap, Prelate Zeratul?"_

"_Maybe... but I can't tell what kind of trap! Anyway, it is still imperative for us to retreat back Aiuron right now!"_

"_Yes, prelate!"_

* * *

(A few minutes later, a few miles away from Camp Atreidis...)

A pack of half a dozen Nod Chameleon stealth self-propelled artillery approach slowly and silently. All of them have activated their Ezekiel stealth generator, rendering them invisible to most enemies' plain sight.

The Chameleon is the continuation of the Nod's Spectre stealth self-propelled artillery system that first appeared during the later stages of the Third Tiberium Wars more than 4 centuries ago. Like its predecessor, the Chameleon is able to cloak itself, vanishing from plain sight. Together with its 180mm plasma shock cannon, a Chameleon can easily sneak past enemy lines, reach for the high grounds, and rain destruction upon enemy lines. With improvements in the research of stealth technology, Chameleons can fire while still remain cloaked like most Nod stealth units, though this capability will be limited by the amount of power levels available in the Chameleon's Ezekiel reactor.

The pack of Chameleons slowly advance towards the Protoss base. One of the changes in the design of Chameleon is the replacement of threads mode of mobility to leg servos like those of walkers. Each chameleon is designed to move with 4 spindly legs like those found on MCVs. Although slower in this manner, the Chameleon is able to move across all terrains with ease. By digging its legs deeper into the soil, a Chameleon is also able to get itself into a more stable firing position, reducing push backs by the massive recoil of its weapon.

Then, the pack of Chameleons reaches their firing range. Completely out of firing range of the Protoss defences, the Chameleons spread out their legs and dig them deep into the ground. After getting themselves stabilised, the Chameleons arch up their cannons... and fire!

* * *

(Back in Camp Atreidis...)

"_Hurry up, brothers! We must retreat before the enemy returns!"_ Atreidis calls out to his withdrawing army.

Just then, a series of high-pitched whistles can be heard across the sky. When the Protoss try to figure out the source of the mysterious noise, a loud explosion rocks across the base. Then, another...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOOOOMMM!

In a series of explosions, several Protoss structures have been levelled to the ground, bursting into blue flames and piles of golden and silver metal. Many walkers are blasted into fragments, and all Protoss infantries caught in the blasts instantly vanish into wisps of blue flames.

"_Base is under attack!"_

"_The enemy must have deployed artilleries! Find them!"_

Scouts escorting the evacuation begin to scout around the area, trying to locate the enemy artillery position. Surprisingly, they find none!

"_We can't locate the enemy artilleries!"_

Despite the fact that there are no signs of enemy artillery, the barrage onto Camp Atreidis resumes.

"_The enemy is still bombarding us! There must be an artillery somewhere!"_

Zeratul, also trying to desperately avoid the blasts, start to think up of one possibility.

"_The enemy may have somehow cloaked their artillery, that is why we can't locate them!"_

Atreidis is shocked about what Zeratul had suggested, but his words do make sense. It may be a possibility. If this is so, they will have a difficult time trying to stop the barrage. With most Observers either destroyed or withdrawn to the main fleet, there is no way they can root out the enemy's cloaked artillery positions. The only solution is to hasten the evacuation.

"_Everyone, get into portals quickly!"_

Suddenly, a blast strikes the shield of one of the portals.

"_The portals are under attack!"_ one of the Zealots exclaim.

Atreidis is feeling more stressed out from the difficult situation he is in now. If he does not do something quickly, more of his men are going to die in vain. Then, he decides to try a desperate measure.

"_Prelate Zeratul, I would ask you to take over and bring my warriors to safety."_

Zeratul is shocked at what Atreidis has blurted out. In his centuries of combat experience, Zeratul knows that if one comrade speaks like this, it will mean only one thing... self-sacrifice!

"_Atreidis, what are you trying to do? We can make it! Don't make any silly moves!"_

"_This is the only way, prelate! I will not let any more of my warriors to sacrifice their lives in vain against the despicable long-range bombardment that the enemy is doing! I will sacrifice myself by releasing all my psionic energies to create a force field to cover the entire base! I will protect my warriors while they retreat!"_

"_But that will be suicide! I'm not going to lose any more good warriors such as you anymore!"_

"_I have made my decision, prelate! A life to exchange the lives of many; I will gladly give up my life to ensure the safety of my warriors, whom I hope one day will be vital for the victory for our race! Please, respect my decision, prelate."_

Zeratul sighs. Judging from what Atreidis has said, it appears that Atreidis has made up his mind; and he will not reconsider about it. Zeratul has witnessed many cases of such self-sacrifice to preserve the lives of many others. High Templar Karass (3) whom he met on Ulaan was one of them. His own best friend Tassadar is another. Thanks to these selfless and brave Protoss, Zeratul knows that he may not even be alive today. He has to respect Atreidis' decision. Reluctantly, he decides to let Atreidis go.

"_Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, brother! It is one honour to have fought alongside with you, High Templar Atreidis of Aiur!"_

With a sigh of relief, Atreidis replies,

"_It is my honour too to have served under your name, prelate! For Shakuras! AND FOR AIUR!"_

With that, Atreidis moves off towards the central location of the base, which is the Nexus. Seeing the leaving form of the High Templar, Zeratul wishes him a final will of good luck,

"_May Adun guide you in the way of Khala..."_

* * *

(Inside Camp Atreidis Nexus...)

The inside of the Nexus is a total wreck, thanks to the bombardment by Nod artillery. Atreidis quickly rush down to the central chamber, where the Nexus' Khaydarin crystal terminal is located. This terminal is essential for the High Templar to communicate with the entire base and army across the battlefield. Without it, the entire army would be easily thrown to disarray. When Atreidis arrives to the chamber, he is relieved to see that the terminal is quite intact, although the chamber itself is quite a mess.

Placing both of his palms on the terminal, Atreidis begins to meditate and focus all his energies onto his palms. His entire body gives out an eerie bluish glow as psionic energies surround the High Templar. Then, in a final war cry, Atreidis releases all the energies through the Khaydarin crystal terminal. Psionic energies mass around the terminal, before being channelled out of the Nexus.

* * *

(Back outside in Camp Atreidis...)

The surviving Protoss warriors are still trying to avoid the artillery bombardment, when out of a sudden, they feel a sudden spike of energies originating from the base's Nexus. As they turn their heads towards the Nexus, they can see a vast wave of energies being focused on the top Khaydarin crystal located on the tip of the Nexus pyramid. Then, the energies spread out, covering the entire base like a form of massive shield above the base.

More plasma shells rain upon the base; only this time, they pound harmlessly against the massive force field generated out from the Nexus.

Upon seeing this sight, Zeratul knows immediately that a good warrior has fallen for the greater good of the Protoss race.

"_High Templar Atreidis has sacrificed himself to protect all of us! That force field will not hold out indefinitely! We must not let Atreidis' sacrifice to go in vain! Brothers, get into the Portals, NOW!" _Zeratul urges the rest of the camp's Protoss warriors.

"_We will not forget the sacrifice of High Templar Atreidis! In the name of Atreidis, for Shakuras! And for Aiur!"_

"_FOR AIUR!"_

Boosted by the protection provided by Atreidis, the Protoss warriors speed up their evacuation.

* * *

(Inside Camp Atreidis Nexus...)

With his final life-force flowing into the Nexus terminal, Atreidis collapses onto the ground. His body fading away from existence.

"_I... am one... with... the... Khala..."_

After his final words, Atreidis vanishes, leaving a wisp of blue flames behind.

* * *

(A few minutes later... outside in Camp Atreidis...)

Zeratul had sensed the passing of Atreidis inside that Nexus. Sighing with the loss, he scans the battlefield again. The force-field that Atreidis creates with the expense of his own life is beginning to fail from the continuous Nod artillery barrage, but its purpose has been fulfilled; the last of Atreidis' warriors have safely retreated back into the portal, leaving Zeratul himself the sole remaining Protoss inside the base. With his objective done, Zeratul retreats back into the _Void Seeker_.

The _Void Seeker _takes off and heads straight towards Mar Sara orbit at light speed; just before the force field fully fails against Nod barrage.

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_This is the Void Seeker to Aiuron; I have left the planet's surface and I am now heading back towards Aiuron. Atreidis has fallen, but his sacrifice has ensured the safe return of many of our warriors."_

Furon growls in frustration when he has received the news of the fall of another one of his elites. Too many lives have been lost; and yet they still fail to eradicate the mutants. They cannot even beat this upstart terran faction known as Brotherhood of Nod. Worse still, Furon has an even grimmer news of his own to tell,

"_High Templar Atreidis shall forever be remembered for his contributions to the fleet... but prelate, I have a bad news to inform you..."_

Zeratul narrows his eyes as he listens to Furon; from Furon's tone, he can tell that it is going to be a very bad news.

"_We have failed the mission, prelate... I have failed! Just before the last warrior had arrived from Camp Atreidis portals, we received news from Scout flight Aquila that a pack of mutants had opened up a warp space(4) and escaped into it! The abominations had begun their spread! We're too late!"_

Upon hearing the news, Zeratul lowers his head and makes a deep sigh. So many lives lost... all in vain.

"_So what is your next move, Furon?"_ Zeratul asks.

"_We will hunt down those escaped abominations in the future; but right now, I am going to stop anymore of these things to leave this world. I will not let all these sacrifices to go in vain!"_

"_You're going to purify this planet, aren't you? I hope you know what you are doing, Furon..."_

Furon begins to order the fleet to prepare for the planetary incineration of Mar Sara,

"_Inform all fleet to commence the purification! All fighters and Void Rays; defend the fleet while the purification is under way! All Carriers, prepare to channel your incineration beams on the planet surface! All hands on Aiuron, channel power to the main cannon for the purification!"_

* * *

(Mar Sara orbit...)

It is such a spectacular sight, as the Carriers align themselves for the planetary incineration. While this is taking place, the remaining fighters and Void Rays engage the Nod fleet to distract the Nod fighters and warships. The plan seems to work, as the Nod fleet turns its attention to the smaller Protoss ships rather than the capital ships.

With their main cannon facing the planet surface, _Aiuron _and all Carriers charge up their weapons... and fire!

* * *

(On Mar Sara surface...)

On the surface, the mutant zergs can see more than one blinding flash of light, before a cascade of explosions takes them out.

The purification beams, with their wavelengths carefully adjusted to emit a certain frequency, starts to disintegrate the Tiberium crystals down into the molecular level. As it happens, quartz are released, which in turn breaks down all neighbouring Tiberium molecules, resulting in chain reaction that destroys Tiberium like falling dominoes. Nothing is safe from the catalytic reaction, in which everything is disintegrated along the path of destruction. All the Tiberium-Zerg hive clusters are instantly reduced into nothingness, leaving barren wasteland behind.

The Nod bases that have failed to evacuate in time suffer the same fate, as the incineration destroys everything. Infantries and cyborgs are instantly disintegrated without leaving a trace, and vehicles are blasted off hundred metres away. Structures are quickly flattened. Nothing, other than scorched earth, is left behind.

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_It's working! Ichor levels are dropping at a significant rate! All mutant hive clusters have been purified!"_ an excited High Templar initiate exclaims, as the crew of _Aiuron _witness the incineration in progress. So far, things seem to be carried out pretty smoothly. Their calculations appear to be correct, and the amount of psionic energies released by the disintegration of Ichor does not seem to be as great as theorised. If this goes on, they may be able to safely purge all Ichor in this sector before it becomes a major threat.

Furon is pleased with the current progress.

"_Resume the incineration! We must make sure that the entire surface has been purified! We cannot afford to let even a single patch of Ichor to be left behind!"_

* * *

(Mar Sara City...)

The once lively capital of Mar Sara is now an empty dead town, thanks to the recent series of conflicts. Starting from the Mar Sara Insurrection, Mar Sara City became a besieged city when the Brotherhood assaulted the colony capital with angry colonists, forcing the local militia to retreat with the aid of Raynor's Raiders. Shortly after the insurrection, the zergs came in, almost wiping out the entire population, until they have been lured by psi emitters which cause them to get exposed under Tiberium radiation and mutates them into Tiberium-Zergs. And now, the Protoss came in to incinerate the threat of Tiberium, or Ichor in their language.

The city used to be a temporary main military operation headquarters, where the Mar Sara Underground HQ Command had been constructed directly beneath the city. Now, even the underground base has been deserted. In order to save manpower for future operations, the Commander had ordered a full-scale evacuation of the headquarters, before he himself returns back to his flagship _Jonah_. Before they left, however, they did leave something behind...

A beam of light shines directly above the city, before a wave of energy disintegrates everything in its path. Similar to other incinerated regions, all traces of Ichor has been wiped out by the catalytic chain of destruction. However, as the purification beam continues to strike upon the surface of the city, cracking through the planet's outer layer of crust, something devastating has happened...

Without warning, a cataclysmic explosion has been set off. While the wavelength of the purification beams had been adjusted to disintegrate solid Tiberium crystals with minimal disturbance of the locked psionic energies within, the same wavelength cannot be applied to Tiberium in liquid form; and that is what had happened.

Unknown to the Protoss, the Commander had ordered his men to set up and leave a Liquid Tiberium warhead inside the abandoned headquarters. When the purification beam strikes through the planet's crust and hits the bomb, it detonates it, triggering an explosion that is equivalent ten times of a 200 megaton thermonuke.

And that is not all. The resulting explosion also triggers a catalytic chain reaction of its own; all remaining traces of Tiberium in the vicinity, regardless of solid form or gaseous form, have been structurally destabilized by the liquid Tiberium explosion. The result is the sudden release of tremendous amount of psionic energies trapped within the Tiberium structures, creating an even wider radius of destruction. In the end, nearly a quarter of the entire surface of Mar Sara has been flattened by the green explosion.

After the end of the explosion, a cascade of released psionic energy, so concentrated that it is visible to the naked eye, can be seen shooting off from Mar Sara atmosphere, into the space and beyond. In the blast zone of the explosion, Tiberium can be seen regrowing again despite Protoss incineration attempts, caused by the Tiberium residues left over from the Liquid Tiberium warhead.

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_What is happening?" _Zeratul enters the control bridge, demanding answers. He had just returned from the _Void Seeker_, when he suddenly felt the sudden surge of psionic energy levels. The surge was so big, that it can be seen visually in the naked eye all the way from the bridge.

"_I... I don't know! Everything is going smoothly as planned... the incineration is supposed to be a success with the aid of Atreidis' finds about Ichor's weaknesses... until this!" _Furon desperately tries to explain himself.

From Furon's eyes, Zeratul can tell that he is not lying. In fact, he can understand how Furon feels, since he himself has witnessed the incineration on his way back to _Aiuron_ on board of _Void Seeker_; and he was puzzled too. At first, the incineration appears to be a success, as traces of green are slowly erased from the planet's surface since the incineration has begun. Then, everything starts to go haywire when one of the Carriers strike a region of the planet which Zeratul recalls to be the former capital city of the planet. When the purification beam strkes that region, a cataclysmic explosion occurs, that causes surge of psionic energies.

"_Im... impossible! We have all the calculations made! It should not have gone this way!"_ Furon exclaims.

Zeratul can only helplessly watch as Furon starts to question himself of what had went wrong. Although Zeratul has no idea of how that had happened, his best guess is that the Brotherhood must have hidden some kind of a bomb, or a super-weapon beneath that region. The incineration must have detonated the super-weapon, hence the cataclysmic explosion. However, Zeratul cannot help but wonder whether it is a coincidence that such event has happened, or does the Brotherhood left it there on purpose.

Right now, however, Zeratul's biggest concern is what would be the outcome when such intense level of psionic energy being released from the planet's surface and into the space and beyond. No doubt more zergs would be drawn in to Mar Sara.

"_It does not matter what went wrong, Furon! What is most important is we have to cancel the incineration!" _Zeratul shouts at the commander of _Aiuron_.

Realising that the dark prelate is making a good point, Furon immediately retains his cool and orders,

"_Ordering all ships; cease the purification! Cease the purification, NOW!"_

Upon Furon's orders, _Aiuron_ and all Carriers stop the incineration. Main cannons all die down.

When Zeratul looks at the planet Mar Sara after the cataclysmic explosion seems to have died down. To his shock, he saw green; traces of green on the blast zone.

"_It cannot be!" _Zeratul exclaims, _"the Ichor has returned after that cataclysmic explosion!"_

"_WHAT?"_ Furon is shocked of the news. All the hard work of trying to purge Ichor, with the sacrifice of hundreds of good warriors, have gone for nought!

Just then, _Aiuron's _on board AI starts to sound out another warning,

"_WARNING, LARGE PRESENCE OF ZERGS DETECTED APPROACHING TO OUR PRESENT LOCATION!"_

"_The zergs are here! No doubt they must have been drawn in by the psionic energies released by the explosion!" _Furon comments.

"_If the zergs land on Mar Sara again, more of them will be transformed by Ichor into those abominations! If they spread again, I doubt we will be able to stop them! We must fight off the zerg presence before they get transformed!" _Zeratul replies.

"_But what about those terran ships? They are still attacking us!"_

Zeratul remains silent. He has to admit that even with his centuries of combat experience, he has no idea of what to do in this moment. For the first time in his life, such enormous odds have been stacked against him.

* * *

(Back in _Jonah _bridge...)

The Commander smirks in satisfaction as he witnesses the detonation of the Liquid Tiberium warhead. Everything is going along as the prophet has planned.

"COMMANDER, THE LIQUID TIBERIUM WARHEAD HAS BEEN SUCCESFULLY DETONATED BY THE PROTOSS INCINERATION... INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."

The holographic image of Kane appears in front of _Jonah's _battlefield control panel, which the Commander quickly greets.

Kane appears to be pleased, "Excellent work, Commander! With the successful detonation of the Liquid Tiberium Bomb, the visitors shall once more make themselves known! Soon, the next ascension shall be at hand!"

"It is thanks to your vision that makes it possible, oh great prophet!" the Commander replies.

"My vision, and your skills that have made this possible, my child! Right now, it will be just a matter of time before the visitors would arrive. With the 'first-borns' already weakened by our assaults, and the 'beasts' fallen prey to the seduction of Tiberium, nothing will stop the visitors from constructing their towers this time!"

"What about the terrans, sir? What if the Dominion attacks?"

"The Dominion will be more focused on protecting their precious assets from the swarm, or busy trying to find us. They will have no concern about an outer rim colony which they believe to have fallen in the hands of the 'beasts'. Although right now, my child, I will need your intelligence for the next assignment; will you accept?"

Another mission? The Commander is feeling intrigued.

"I will gladly accept any mission you give your task upon, oh great prophet!"

Satisfied with the Commander's answer, Kane begins to brief about the next assignment,

"Glad to hear that, my child, now here's your next mission; as you can see, the Dominion has received the message that I have left for the UNN channel. No doubt that their emperor would not take my message lightly and will definitely respond with force! Not long ago, our intelligence officers in the secret broadcast station of Bhekar Rho has picked up signals of Dominion's orbital scans. We believe that the tyrants have located the source of our little propaganda and will likely head towards there! Commander, I want you to bring Fleet _Jonah_ to Bhekar Rho and set up a trap to welcome the Dominion! Bhekar Rho is an important communication hub of the Brotherhood; it must not fall! Prepare the defence of Bhekar Rho!"

"But sir, what about Mar Sara? Who is going to monitor the operations on Mar Sara when the visitors arrive?"

"Abbotess Nadia shall be in charge of Mar Sara operations as well as monitoring the activities of the visitors once they arrive!"

"Understood! I shall pass on the command of Mar Sara to Abbotess Nadia and will head straight back to Bhekar Rho now!"

"Good luck to you, Commander! Now go, my child! Do not fail me!"

With that, Kane cuts his transmission to the Commander, signalling the end of the briefing.

"COMMANDER, I HAVE PLOTTED COURSE FOR FLEET _JONAH _TO BHEKAR RHO... WARNING! LARGE NUMBERS OF ZERG SIGNATURES DETECTED APPROACHING TO OUR CURRENT LOCATION... IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE ZERGS HAVE BEEN DRAWN IN BY THE VAST PSIONIC ENERGIES RELEASED BY THE LIQUID TIBERIUM EXPLOSION... PLOTTING COURSE FOR FLEET _JONAH_ TO BHEKAR RHO... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" LEGION announces.

"Good! Order all ships to prepare to withdraw from Mar Sara! We'll leave this planet and let the Protoss to deal with the zergs. If the zergs win, it will be more mutants for us to exploit. Even if the Protoss wins, their exhausted state would be no match against the visitors. There is no need for me to stay here anymore. LEGION, transmits my order to Abbotess Nadia in Mar Sara underground network to take in charge of our operations on Mar Sara."

"AS YOU WISH, COMMANDER... TRANSMITTING NEW ORDERS..."

"Alright! Our job in here is done! Let's leave this place..."

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_Executor Furon, Prelate Zeratul; you cannot believe this, but the terrans are retreating!"_

"_WHAT?"_

Zeratul and Furon quickly look through the control bridge of the Mothership _Aiuron_. True to the High Templar disciple's words, the Nod fleet are backing out; all of them are retreating into the warp space.

'_What are these terrans thinking?'_ Zeratul wonders, _'The enemy has the advantage and a chance to wipe us out; yet they decide to pack up and leave just before an assured victory. Everything is not making any sense!'_

"_Prelate, what do you think is going on in here?"_ Furon asks.

"_I don't know! Perhaps they know that their actions will be attracting more zergs to this planet... or perhaps that have been their true plan throughout the entire battle, and they are leaving because their goals have already been achieved!"_ Zeratul replies grimly. Regardless true reason why the Nod fleet is retreating, it seems that the Nod fleet must have accomplished some sort of a goal.

Just right after the last ship of Fleet _Jonah_ had retreated back into the warp space, another warp space begins to open up; revealing the arrival of more zergs!

"_The zergs are coming! We have to prevent the birth of more of those abominations! All stations, prepare for battle!"_ Furon barks out to his fleet.

It appears that there won't be any rest for Furon's expeditionary fleet today. Unknown to Furon or Zeratul, they will be in for a much bigger fight that's to come...

* * *

(Somewhere in the vast galaxy...)

"**ICHOR LQ DETONATION DETECTED... TRACING SOURCE OF DETONATION FROM: ... KOPRULU SECTOR... SARA SYSTEM... LANGUAGE ASSIMILATION... COMPLETE... REVIVING CREW FROM STASIS... ALL CREW REVIVED FROM STASIS MODE... ALL VITALS... NORMAL... WELCOME BACK FOREMAN 371..."**

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: The New Invaders

Furon and Zeratul get their hands busy with the second zerg wave of arrival on Mar Sara. However, neither of them will be expecting to face a new foe.

* * *

(1) The _Void Seeker _is Zeratul's starship. It can be seen in Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty campaign, during Zeratul's flashback.

(2) Vespene tanks are the tanks used by Protoss to contain Vespene gas and transport them back to Assimilator.

(3) Karass is the Protoss High Templar whom Zeratul encountered during the Protoss mini-campaign in Wings of Liberty. He sacrificed himself in order to hold off a zerg advance so as to give enough time for Zeratul to escape Ulaan with the prophecies.

(4) If you can recall from Starcraft 1 cinematics, zergs can open up warp space and use it to travel from planet to planet quickly. Although it is unknown how they do it.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Chameleon 

Role: Stealth self-propelled artillery walker

Armament: 180mm plasma shock cannon, Ezekiel stealth generator, Ezekiel reactor

Appearance: Similar to a Nod Spectre artillery in Kane's Wrath, except that it is now quadruped walker and has no threads

The Chameleon is the continuation of the Brotherhood's Spectre stealth artilleries deployed during the Third and Fourth Tiberium Wars. One of the major changes to its design is the replacement of heavy vehicle threads to 4 spindly leg servos, converting it to a quadruped walker. Although it moves slower than its predecessor, it can now easily move across and entrench itself in all kinds of terrain. Together with its Ezekiel stealth generator, the Chameleon can easily sneak through enemy lines, and find a strategic area to bombard their enemies' positions. By digging its legs deep into the earth, the Chameleon can also stabilise itself when firing its massive 180mm plasma shock cannon, rumoured to be modified from those of salvaged Crucio Siege Tanks of the Dominion. Like most stealth units of the Brotherhood in this era, the Chameleon is able to remain cloaked while firing, only limited by the amount of energy that is available in its Ezekiel reactor. Note that however, the Chameleon has light armour and it can be spotted by advanced detectors such as Dominion's Orbital Scans or Protoss' Observers.

* * *

Well, I've tried to explain as much as possible in scientific term of why the Protoss incineration can safely purge normal Tiberium, but not liquid Tiberium (I'm not a physicist or a chemist anyway). Anyway, the main point of this chapter is that as most of you readers have guessed, the Protoss have fired their planetary incineration weapon in hoping to wipe out the scourge of Tiberium and the mutants, only to have caused a bigger boom!

As usual, I will try to update as fast as I can, though it may be a month or so after.


	16. Act 15: The New Invaders

(Edited on 18/06/2011)

Thanks for all the positive reviews again. I'm glad everyone likes it when I let the Scrin to make a return in this story.

To MegaAuthor: The Brotherhood may seem overpowered now as they are keep winning their battles, but don't forget it is because they are well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each faction (as mentioned in the prologue they have been observing the first Great War the entire time before they mobilise), while their enemies know nothing about them. As mentioned in the Art of War, always know your enemy if you want to win. As for the BIG guns that you hope to see will come... but it will not be very soon. Unfortunately I can't spoil too much on when will they arrive.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 15: THE NEW INVADERS**

(Somewhere in the vast galaxy...)

Foreman 371 stirs from his stasis. Nobody knows how long he has been off-world since the disastrous Ichor harvesting operation in the Solar System. Right now, the Scrin foreman has been awakened, in response of another recent Ichor LQ detonation signal detected by the Mothership; a signal telling that another planet is ripe for harvesting. Still a bit dizzy from the after effects of the stasis, the foreman asks,

"**Mothership, repeat to me where is the source of the Ichor LQ detonation."**

The feminine voice of the alien artificial intelligence immediately responds,

"**THE SOURCE OF THE ICHOR LQ DETONATION HAS BEEN TRACED BACK TO A SPECIFIC SECTOR THAT WAS NOT PREVIOUSLY RECORDED IN OUR DATA CORE. LANGUAGE ASSIMILATION OF THE LOCAL REGION NAMED IT AS KOPRULU SECTOR..."**

'**Not recorded? This is... strange...' **Foreman 371 begins to ponder. Memories of the failed Ichor harvesting operation in the Solar System centuries ago begin to return to the foreman's mind. If the data core did not even record down any prior records of this sector, then let alone a seeding had been performed. So when does Ichor reaches there?

Before the foreman can reach up to a conclusion, a transmission suddenly cuts in,

"**RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE SUPERVISOR, STANDBY..."**

A deep gruff voice comes in, and a hologram image of an illuminated jellyfish-like creature appears in front of Foreman 371, _**"... Foreman 371, you are hereby ordered to initiate the harvesting operation of the sector! Remember, this operation is vital for the survival of our species! We cannot afford to fail like what had happened back in the Solar System! This operation is going to be crucial, or we'll risk the extinction of our species!"**_

From the tone of his supervisor, the foreman can tell that the Supervisor is anxious to conduct this harvesting operation; and there is a reason why this is so. Ever since the failed invasion on Earth, the Scrin as a whole had lost an astronomical value of Ichor that had been invested in the harvesting operation. Not to mention that during the invasion, a large bulk of the expeditionary forces had been lost to Earth's defence as well. Since the failed invasion, the Scrin had been dying from the shortage of Ichor, which had been running dangerously low at the Ichor Hub. Without a planet rich in resources available around their home planet, the Scrin had to resort to combat Ichor shortage by putting the entire race into stasis. The armada had been scattered across the galaxy, all locked in stasis mode and waiting for any signals of Ichor LQ detonation. After centuries without a profitable find, the Scrin is desperate for another harvesting operation.

And now after centuries of waiting, they had finally received a signal; a signal that somewhere, a planet is fully infested with Ichor and is ripe for harvesting. Normally, the signal would mean that the foreman would begin sending in Drone Ships to the planet, if not due to a certain fact that makes the foreman feel fishy; the planet where the signal originates from is not even recorded down into their data core. At least from the Earth case study, the planet had been recorded into the data core of being seeded before, hence the commencement of the harvesting operation before they realised that it was a trap. In this case, however, the Koprulu Sector was not even registered into the Scrin astronomical records before, let alone seeded.

Concerned about this operation, Foreman 371 decides to voice out his concern, **"But Supervisor, there is something suspicious about this operation! This sector was never recorded in our data core, and we had no prior records of any seeding operation in this planet Mar Sara! I'm worried that this operation may end up as another disaster like what had previously occurred on Earth!"**

The Supervisor, not pleased with Foreman 371's defiance, barks out, _**"You have no right to refuse this mission! And do not remind us the failure on Earth! Need I remind you that the Overlord had never been pleased with that failed mission! Not only did you defy my... our orders to stay and investigate about that individual known as Kane, you abandoned your post on Earth and left the only functional Threshold Tower on Earth to the humans! And after you returned to the Hub, you defied our orders again by resetting the gateway destination settings of Earth's Threshold Tower, causing us to lose our only return path to Earth! If not of your insubordination, our armada would have already led a full-scale invasion against Earth centuries ago, and claimed those Ichor as rightfully ours! You should have been executed for your crimes, but the Overlord had been lenient that he had forgiven you for evacuating what had remained of your expeditionary fleet and saving millions of our kin! Right now, our race is in a crisis! We need to fill up our Ichor Hub or we'll risk extinction! This signal may be our only salvation, and we are not going to lose it!"**_

In the midst of the argument between Foreman 371 and his Supervisor, another voice cuts in; a deep monotonous one, _**"This operation is too important for us to abandon! Regardless if the planet is recorded in the data core or not, this operation must be resumed! Still, I believe Foreman 371 did make a point; it is unusual for a planet with no prior records of seeding to emit a signal of an Ichor LQ detonation. Foreman 371, you shall proceed this operation with caution; if this is another trap set up by any other indigenous species, you will have my permission to launch a forward invasion operation against this planet!"**_

"_**But Overlord, our armada had been scattered all across the galaxy! It would be difficult to gather them..."**_

"_**I know your concern too, Supervisor 11! Right now, the armada is too scattered to launch a full-scale invasion; but I trust Foreman 371's judgement! Need I remind you that if not Foreman 371's defiance against your order to investigate the individual known as Kane, he would not have rushed back and protect the last Threshold Tower in time, and more of our kin would have been lost on that operation! Our race was already in desperate situation even during Earth invasion, and we had never been able to afford to treat any troops as expendables! I trust Foreman 371's absolute loyalty to the Scrin cause, and that's why I decide to forgive him for defying my orders! Now keep quiet and pay attention to my orders! Foreman 371, I will entrust you this operation as your responsibility; you will be authorised to use any actions in ensuring that this harvesting operation will be a success!"**_

Pleased and relieved with the Overlord's encouraging support, Foreman 371 quickly replies, **"Order shall be accepted, Overlord! I promise I will not fail you this time!"**

Immediately, the Scrin foreman quickly makes settings into his Mothership in preparation for his new mission, **"Mothership, before we launch the transport ships, I want you to scan the planet surface to ensure if Ichor cover has reached mature levels!"**

"**SCANNING PLANET SURFACE FOR ICHOR CONCENTRATION, STANDBY... ANALYSIS RESULTS HAVE SHOWN THAT ICHOR CONCENTRATION ON THE PLANET TO BE ONLY 36.6% OF THE ENTIRE PLANET COVER... CONCLUSION: A PREMATURE ICHOR LQ DETONATION!"**

The Scrin foreman curses; all these conditions have been showing that this operation may have a high chance to become a repeat of the disaster on Earth. He knew that something fishy is going on, and he was relieved that he and the Overlord had trusted his instincts.

Just then, his Supervisor cuts in again, _**"Another premature Ichor LQ detonation! This is absurd! Foreman 371, you are to proceed this harvesting operation as planned, but I want you to investigate the cause of this premature Ichor LQ detonation! If this turns out to be another doing by another indigenous species, I want you to immediately set up a forward base to prepare for a full-scale invasion!" **_With that, the transmission is cut.

Foreman 371 wastes no time to carry out his new mission, as he quickly orders his Mothership to conduct another scan, **"Mothership, scan this planet for any signs of civilisations that may resist our operations!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED, SCANNING PLANET FOR SIGNS OF SENTIENT CIVILISATIONS, STANDBY... SCANS HAVE RECORDED THAT THIS PLANET HAD FRESH RUINS THAT BEAR SIMILARITY TO THE HUMANS, BUT MORE ADVANCED. THESE RUINS HAD SUGGESTED THAT THIS PLANET WAS RECENTLY A HUMAN SETTLEMENT, BUT HAD BEEN ABANDONED VERY RECENTLY. THIS PLANET IS CURRENTLY CONTESTED BY TWO INDIGENOUS SPECIES, IN WHICH NONE OF THEM HAVE EVER BEEN RECORDED IN OUR DATA CORE. FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE TWO INDIGENOUS SPECIES."**

After listening to his Mothership's report, Foreman 371 is feeling disturbed. The scans have indicated that humans may have once colonised this planet, meaning that the humans must have learnt how to perform interplanetary system travels in order to travel to a region of the galaxy that is 60,000 light years away from Earth. After centuries, the humans seem to have advanced their technological level by a huge leap, while theirs had remained stagnant due to their centuries of stasis. The Scrin foreman cannot help but suspect that the humans must have reverse-engineered some of their technology during the failed Earth harvesting operation, else it will be difficult for such a primitive race to achieve such a technological feat within a short span of time.

Besides the concern of the humans, there is also this issue about the two newly discovered indigenous species on this planet. Based on the scan, it appears that one of them is another highly advanced race with technology that seems to be as advanced as their own; while the other appears to be some sort of a hive-minded species that can somehow adapt to deep space travelling. There are too many unknowns in this operation, and it seems to be too risky to attack these two species with his current limited fleet.

Fortunately, the foreman also realises another fact about these two species; it appears that these two species are enemies to each other, just like how the humans on Earth used to be split into two warring factions. If these two races are just busy fighting against each other, maybe there is a way to quickly slip in and build up a forward base on the surface. Through the forward base, the fleet can be reinforced from the armada itself. By gathering enough forces, it would be possible to vanquish and study the remains of the two species.

"**Mothership, prepare to launch the transport ships! Set course for primary Ichor fields on the planet's surface!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED... LAUNCHING TRANSPORT SHIPS FOR PLANETFALL... STANDBY... ALERT: TRANSPORT SHIPS UNDER ATTACK... DEFENSIVE DISPERSAL FUNCTION INITIATED..."**

* * *

(A few seconds ago... Mar Sara orbit...)

Furon's expeditionary fleet is locked in heavy combat against the invading zerg swarm. With Scouts and Phoenixes against Mutalisks and Scourges, Void Rays and Carriers against the relatively new zerg breed Corruptors, the Protoss fleet is too busy to stop the Overlords and Sacs from approaching Mar Sara surface. With their numbers already halved by the earlier Nod assault, Fleet _Aiuron _can hardly hold back the relentless zerg invaders. Already, half of the invading zerg swarm had made planet-fall, and there is not much the Protoss can do to stop them.

Just then, in the middle of the battle, another warp rift has been opened...

* * *

(_Aiuron _control bridge... Mar Sara orbit...)

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; we detected another warp rift being opened up right in front of us!" _a High Templar initiate on board of _Aiuron _control bridge reports.

Immediately, Furon and Zeratul looks outside and true to the initiate's words, another opening to the warp space has been sighted. This does not look good...

"_Another zerg swarm?" _Furon asks, wondering if there is a second wave of zergs responding to the surge of psionic energies just released a few moments ago.

Zeratul examines carefully the warp rift, when he realises that something is coming out from the warp space... and they are not zergs...

"_No... these are not zergs! These are..."_

Out of the warp space, 6 unidentified objects, each shaped like a cluster of purple and silver spiral shells arranged in spirals, can be seen zooming straight towards Mar Sara surface, ignoring the chaos of the space battle.

"_What are these things?"_ Furon asks.

Zeratul is also wondering the same question, but he gets a strange feeling that he has seen these things before. Suddenly, Zeratul recalls some bits of his memory from a flashback...

* * *

_(Flashback... a few months ago... Braxis...)_

_Zeratul is studying the hieroglyphics carved on the wall surface of the ruins hidden deep beneath the ice world of Braxis. Using his warp blade as a light source, the seasoned dark warrior examines the patterns of the hieroglyphics carefully, only to receive more questions than answers. _

_He has been expecting to read some ancient prophecies of the Xel'naga, the creators. Instead, what he has seen are strange pictures of never before seen creatures, dancing on some sort of crystalline looking grass fields. These creatures vary in shape and sizes, ranging from tiny insectoid shape, to massive three-legged ones with three tentacles, and giant lobster-shaped ones that appear to be flying. The pictures of these creatures appear to be centred around two massive-looking objects; one is a cone-shaped object surrounded by a halo, which appears to be firing a beam of light downwards onto the ground; the other looks like a cluster of cone-shaped spiral shellfish, resting on the middle of the crystalline grass field. _

_Zeratul has never met these creatures or the crystalline grass-like plant before. On the bottom of the hieroglyphics, he manages to read out a line of ancient text, which is surprisingly, to be those of Xel'naga language, one that he understands a bit. From the text, he recites out,_

"_The third... and the fourth creations... I... chor... and... the... Sc...rin..."_

_Below the text, there is one more line of ancient Xel'naga text, which Zeratul recites again,_

"_The weeds... and the... locusts... what does that mean?"_

* * *

(Flashback ends... back in _Aiuron _bridge...)

"_The Scrin..."_

Zeratul whispers, which does not go unnoticed by Furon.

"_Scrin?"_ Furon asks.

"_Remember the second Ihan crystal that I have shared with you, Furon?" _Zeratul replies.

"_Are you referring to the creatures mentioned in the hieroglyphics in Braxis? The fourth creation? Are these creatures really the ones which the creators called the Scrin?"_

"_I'm afraid so, my friend!"_

"_What should we do, prelate? We can't confront the Scrin when we had our hands full with the zergs!"_

"_We'll have to ignore the Scrin alone for the time being, Furon. We still do not know whether these Scrin are hostile or not! Right now, the biggest threat to us are these zergs!"_

While Zeratul explains why they have to ignore the possible threat of the newly arrived Scrin fleet, Furon watches the Scrin ships making their descent towards Mar Sara surface.

* * *

(Back outside Mar Sara orbit...)

While his fleet decides to ignore the Scrin for the time being, it seems the zergs have other ideas. Not caring whether they are Protoss or Scrin, the zergs attack anything that does not belong to their own species, when Mutalisks and Corruptors begin shoot at the descending Scrin ships.

In response to the zerg assault, the Scrin ships begin to undergo an emergency defensive protocol. The massive Scrin ships begin to break up and disperse themselves into smaller individual Drone Ships, all making beeline towards the planet surface at full speed.

The zergs appear to be surprised at first when the Scrin ships suddenly break apart, but soon quickly resume their attack against the new comers. Glaive wurms and parasitic spores rain upon the descending Drone Ships. Some tiny flying Scourges even ram themselves into the Drone Ships, releasing caustic acids that eat away the frame of the Scrin ships. Under the relentless zerg aerial assault, a few of the Scrin Drone Ships are destroyed, breaking apart into purple flaming and twisted metal fragments. Some of them sprout purple fire from their hull, with parts of the hull chipped away by the zerg attacks. Still, most manage to shrug off the heavy zerg assault with their heavy armour and quickly make it through Mar Sara atmosphere.

* * *

(Mar Sara surface...)

On the site of a growing Tiberium field, a violent ion storm is blowing. Lightning clouds cover the entire sky, with countless numbers of lightning strikes ravaging the ground for every minute. Thunder cracks across the entire landscape for every lightning strike.

Just a few moments ago, the Tiberium area is almost purged by the Protoss incineration. Everything has been going smoothly, until a Liquid Tiberium chain explosion that messes up everything, creating a catalytic chain of destruction that not just destroys everything in its path, but also redeposit Tiberium residues across the land. Thanks to the Liquid Tiberium explosion, the Protoss hard work had been all flushed to the drain, as Tiberium is making its comeback.

Now, as Tiberium continues to spread across the landscape, a streak of light can be seen shooting across the sky, bursting through the cloud cover of the ion storm. On a closer inspection, it can be seen that the streak of light is actually a giant purple and silver spiral-shell shaped ship, crashing towards the surface. Surprisingly, the ship is totally unharmed as it passes through the ion storm.

In a loud thunderous thud, the ship touches down right in the middle of the green Tiberium field. Once it touches down, the base of the ship extends a bit and digs itself into the soil. Within the multiple gap openings of the ship's base, numerous creatures of varying shape and sizes can be seen rushing out of the ship.

One of the first group of creatures to exit is a flight of dark purple, flat, disc shaped flyers with a single violet eye. These flyers are around the size of a Mutalisk. The moment these Stormriders fly out of the Drone Platform, they head towards the sky, preparing to give some payback to the hive-minded creatures that dared to attack their ship during their descent.

Besides the Stormriders, swarms of biomechanical creatures, ranging from tiny insect size the shape of flying buzz-saw, to four-legged insectoid with large round back and size of a small car, begin to scurry out of the Drone Platform as well. A few seconds after the Drone Platform has touched down, a sea-anemone shaped Scrin Reactor warps into existence just right next to the Platform. A Scrin forward base is in the process of being set up.

Elsewhere, similar settings have taken place all across major Tiberium fields on Mar Sara. With the construction of many Scrin bases undergoing, Scrin infantries and fighters have been deployed out from the deployed Drone Platforms, ready to defend the harvesting operations.

Soon, the Scrin will launch a major counter-attack, one that will claim this Tiberium-infested world as their own.

* * *

(A few minutes later...)

A herd of Zerg Overlords, carrying cargoes of terrestrial zergs, are floating in the air, searching for any mineral fields and vespene geysers to drop off Drones so that a new hive cluster can be established on Mar Sara. Escorting the Overlords are a pack of Mutalisks and Scourges, surrounding the Overlords in a protective circle.

These zergs have responded to the vast psionic energies released from this planet. Initially, they plan to head straight towards the source, only to be intercepted by a Protoss fleet. Although the Protoss fleet is not a big one, it does manage to disrupt the zerg formations and scatter the swarm. Right now, this small group of zergs has managed to reach towards planet surface and is heading towards one of the sources of psionic energies that has been constantly emitted out. Unknown to these zergs, however, they are actually heading towards a major green Tiberium field that has been recently regrown after the liquid Tiberium explosion.

Suddenly, the Overlords tense up, as if detecting some approaching objects from a distance away. In response to the Overlords' distress signal, the escorting Mutalisks and Scourges decide to advance forward in order to investigate the source of disturbance. Then, from the horizon, a group of dark purple flying objects have been sighted, speeding towards the small group of aerial zergs.

These objects are flat, disc-shaped and shaped like aerial manta rays with a single violet eye. They are Stormriders, primary air-superiority fighters of the Scrin armada.

The numbers of Stormriders are even with the numbers of Mutalisks and Scourges. Sensing that these strange flying objects could be potential threat, the aerial zergs let out a high-pitched scream before rushing towards the dark purple flying discs for battle.

For the Stormriders, they instantly recognise these approaching winged creatures as the ones responsible for attacking and even destroying some of their Drone Ships during their descent. Immediately, they know these hive-minded flyers are a serious threat to the Scrin harvesting operation and needs to be eliminated. The Stormriders fearlessly head straight towards the flock of winged zergs; and once they are at maximum firing range, they let loose their twin disruptor cannons (1).

The effect is instantaneous, as the aerial zergs hit by the disruptor cannons quickly burst into falling chunks of flesh and blood. In response to the Stormrider assault, the Mutalisks and Scourges quickly scatter, forcing the Stormriders to scatter as well in order to pursue their prey. If observed from a distance, it can be seen that the result is a chaotic ball of dogfighting Scrin and zerg flyers.

The Scourges try to ram themselves into the Stormriders so that they can blow off the dark purple biomechanical fighters off from the sky; but the problem is that not only are the Strormriders too fast and too agile, their swivel-mounted disruptor cannons are able to target their opponents from any direction, even if the enemy is at their six-o' clock. Very often, the Scourges have no chance of striking the Stormriders, only to end up being blasted into globs of acid and blood before they can even close in. Only a few Scourges manage to strike their targets, causing a few Stormriders to crash with wing sections completely blown off.

The Mutalisks have not much luck either. Although the Mutalisks are more agile, the Stormriders are faster and they are mainly using hit-and-run tactics. The Mutalisks try to shoot at the Stormriders with their glaive wurms, which does not seem to damage the armoured fuselage of the Stormriders too much. On the other hand, the Stormriders' disruptor cannons have no problems blasting through the thin carapace of the Mutalisks, causing more Mutalisks to drop than Stormriders.

A few minutes after the dogfights have begun, the outcome of the skirmish is crystal clear; the flock of Mutalisks and Scourges have been wiped out, with about 1/3 of the original number of Stormriders remaining, most of them damaged with trails of green smoke trailing behind.

Now, with the escorts out of the way, the Stormriders rush towards the unprotected Overlords. Sensing danger, the Overlords try to turn tail and fly away as fast as possible. Unfortunately, they are much too slow, allowing the Scrin fighters to easily catch up. The Stormriders quickly let loose their disruptor cannons again once they get in range, wounding a number of the more placid zerg strain. In an act of desperation, the Overlords drop their cargoes of terrestrial zergs. Among the dropped zergs, about ¼ of them are Hydralisks.

Keen to defend their own kind, the Hydralisks begin to launch their volleys of spines into the air, trying to shoot down the pesky Scrin fighters. Some of the Stormriders retaliate against the Hydralisks by raining disruptor cannons onto the ground, killing a few of the Hydralisks; while others remain focused against the Overlords. Many Overlords burst into bloody rain by the Stormriders. Despite the best efforts by the Hydralisks, they cannot stop the Stormriders from killing the last Overlord. They do, however, manage to shoot down all the Stormriders, in which most of them have already been injured during the previous dogfights against the aerial zergs.

Satisfied by the destruction of the Stormriders, the group of terrestrial zergs, comprising of Drones, Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches, decide to resume their journey on foot. However, they are soon met with even more resistance.

Emerging from beyond a green Tiberium field, a large swarm of Scrin infantries are sighted charging straight towards the small pack of zerg survivors. This swarm is mainly made up of several swarms of Buzzers, several squads of Disintegrators and a few squads of Shock Troopers.

Agitated by the approach of these unknown creatures, the zergs charge straight towards the Scrin, accepting their challenge to battle till death.

Letting out an ear-piercing screech, the Zerglings leap towards the Scrin cluster, braving through barrage of plasma discs launched by Scrin Shock Troopers. In their reckless craze for blood, however, they rush blindly straight into the Buzzer swarms. The results are gory; the swarms of tiny flying buzz-saws easily shred through the thin carapace of the Zerglings, leaving them as piles of mangled flesh. Zerglings try to retaliate, but their claws and fangs are unable to cut through the swarm of tiny buzz-saws, which are buzzing around them like flies around a piece of rotting flesh.

While the Zerglings are ripped apart by the Buzzers, the Hydralisks and Roaches try to shoot at the swarm of Buzzers. They can feel that the swarms of tiny buzz-saws are controlled by some kind of a core of psionic conscience; and they are trying to target these cores. However, with so many tiny Buzzers buzzing around, it is difficult for spines or acid spit to hit these near-invisible cores. Also, the Shock Troopers are also shooting back at these larger zergs as well. The rounded, insect-like Scrin heavy infantries the size of a small car are firing plasma discs at some of these Hydralisks and Roaches, spilling zerg blood. Still, after a few barrage, some of the Buzzer swarms begin to drop dead, when the unprotected cores get compromised by the zerg projectiles.

As the Hydralisks and Roaches are busy shooting at the Buzzers, they fail to notice some pony-sized insect-like Disintegrators closing in against them. These walking gun platforms close in to just a few metres next to the larger zergs, before unleashing their plasma cutters. In an instant, Hydralisks and Roaches begin to drop dead, as the plasma cutters easily shred through their carapace, dismembering them limb by limb. Some of the Hydralisks and Roaches retaliate by closing in and swiping the Disintegrators with their claws, succeeding in beheading the more fragile Scrin infantries. Still, these medium-sized zergs quickly fall against the combined assault of Buzzers, Disintegrators and Shock Troopers, dropping dead as lifeless carcasses.

While the battle between the zergs and Scrin infantries taking place, the Drones try to get away from the scene as far as possible. Only armed with weak claws, the Drones know that they are not bred for battle and are only useful in resource gathering and hive cluster expansion. As the Zerglings, Hydralisks and Roaches perish in their battle, the Drones are trying to find a secure spot so that they can begin to morph into a new Hatchery.

The Drones find a what seems to be a 'mineral field' and a vespene geyser. On a closer look, however, the vespene geyser seems to be depleted; but that does not matter now. The Drones are in danger of being hunted down by these unknown biomechanical creatures, and they need to quickly establish themselves a hive cluster and spawn more zergs in order to combat these new threats. Hence, without further consideration, the Drones begin to morph right next to the 'mineral field', not realising the consequences.

* * *

(Back in _Aiuron_ control bridge, Mar Sara orbit...)

Things are not looking good for Zeratul and Furon. Their fleet had tried their best to prevent the zergs from approaching the Ichor-infested planet of Mar Sara; but there is too many of these zergs for the fleet to stop them with. Casualties had been climbing since the arrival of the zergs, and there is now no way for the fleet to stop the zergs from making planet-fall. It also seems that the zergs are getting bored with dealing the Protoss ships, and are now totally ignoring the small numbers of remaining Protoss fighters and ships, all heading towards the Ichor-infested surface.

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; we can't stop the zergs from heading towards the planet's surface!" _one of the High Templar initiate exclaims.

"_What should we do, prelate? We can't just leave those abominations unstopped?" _Furon points out, hoping that the more experienced dark prelate would quickly think up of a solution.

Zeratul starts to analyse the situation; their current fleet strength is heavily depleted due to the recent conflicts against the Brotherhood of Nod, the Ichor-infested abominations and the newly arrived zerg swarm. The zergs had already made several planet-fall onto the surface, meaning that there should be some new hive clusters already established; and the zergs are now multiplying their own numbers as they speak. If they are to resume pursuing the zergs with their current strength, they will be the one that will get wiped out instead. However, Furon has made an important point that they cannot leave the zergs alone on this Ichor-infested planet, or else they will have to face the consequence of Ichor spreading throughout the entire sector by newly infested mutants. If they must, they have to stop these mutants from spreading Ichor even much further, even if they have to mobilise the entire forces on Shakuras. Then, there is the issue of the recent arrival of the rumoured fourth creation. They are another unknown factor that must be investigated in order to determine if they are a threat as prophesised.

Finally, Zeratul orders, _"Furon, order the fleet to make a planet-fall! We must establish a forward base on this planet if we are to stop the threat of these zergs and Ichor! Contact back to Shakuras; tell them to prepare more troops for our reinforcements! If Artanis and Selendis are on Shakuras, tell them about the threats that we are now facing, and ask them to lend to our support! We'll need all the help if we are to win this fight!"_

"_Understood, prelate! All forces, prepare to head towards the surface! Contact Shakuras for reinforcements!"_

* * *

(Ichor LQ detonation blast site... primary Scrin forward base... Mar Sara...)

"**RELAY NODE CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE AT ICHOR DEPOSITION SITE GROUND ZERO... BEGINNING CONSTRUCTION OF THRESHOLD TOWER NUMBER ONE..."**

As the Scrin Mothership AI reports back to Foreman 371, the holographic image of the Supervisor appears right in front of the Scrin foreman's control panel, _**"Excellent! While the construction of the Threshold Tower is under way, I want you to begin carrying out diversionary tactics using our scouting forces! Target these organic hive structures of these hive-minded indigenous species to divert their attention away from the Threshold Tower construction site! With all resources devoted to the construction of a single Threshold Tower rather than multiple towers, we can hasten the construction of the tower and begin the trans-warp of our armada into this planet! Once the planet is conquered, we can begin the harvesting operation on this entire planet and avoid the disaster back on Earth!"**_

While the Supervisor's plans sound like a foolproof one, Foreman 371 is feeling disgusted that his forces are going to be used as diversions against the indigenous species again. The foreman is well aware of the Supervisor's preference in using diversionary tactics that make use of a number of soldiers as expendable diversions so that the enemies' attention can be diverted away from the main operations. During the invasion on Earth more than 400 years ago, it was his Supervisor that had ordered this diversionary tactics that would later prove to be disastrous to the Scrin cause; since the diversionary forces deployed on Earth were too little to damage and disrupt the humans' organised military forces, as the initial invading forces were already too small and unprepared to begin with. Worse still, not only the diversionary tactics fail to disorganise the humans, they only further enrage the humans and give them a very good reason to concentrate their entire forces against their Threshold Towers, which they were unable to finish in time due to the small amount of available Ichor scattered across the planet were not enough to quickly construct 19 towers at the same time. They were lucky to have survived and escaped Earth by the timely complete construction of the last Threshold Tower, before their forces had been overwhelmed by the humans.

Foreman 371 has never liked his Supervisor; in fact, he hates him to the guts. He can still remember the Supervisor's declaration that his forces are "expendable" during the Earth's invasion. Still, he has no choice but he must obey his Supervisor. Not only is he outranked, he has to agree that the hive-minded indigenous species are not easy opponents, as proven by the earlier scouting forces that had just fought against these creatures. If these indigenous species begin to rally up their forces and divert them to the construction site, it would be Earth all over again. Currently those hive-minded indigenous species seem to have only just started to settle and organise themselves after their conflicts against the scouting forces and the other more advanced indigenous species, hence this will be the best opportunity to disorganise them.

Before Foreman 371 can make a response, his Mothership AI suddenly interferes the conversation, **"OBJECTION, SUPERVISOR! REPORTS COMING FROM OUR SECONDARY SCOUT FORCES HAVE INDICATED THAT THE HIVE SPECIES ARE CURRENTLY DYING EN MASSE FROM THE EFFECTS OF ICHOR EXPOSURE! IT WILL BE UNWISE TO SCATTER OUR FORCES AGAINST AN ENEMY THAT IS NO LONGER A SERIOUS THREAT, WHILE THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THE SECOND MORE ADVANCED INDIGENOUS SPECIES ON THIS PLANET MAY STRIKE AT THE THRESHOLD TOWER CONSTRUCTION SITE!"**

"_**Then change the targets! With the defeat of the hive species, the second species will have the chance to rally their forces! That species currently have much fewer numbers than the hive species; destroy them before they can regroup! That species also appear to have been using technologies which are eerily similar to ours; investigate their remains after destroying them!" **_the Supervisor replies.

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED! PRIMARY BASE OF THE SECOND INDIGENOUS SPECIES HAS BEEN LOCATED... MARKING ALL SECOND INDIGENOUS SPECIES AS PRIMARY TARGETS... ESTABLISHING BATTLEFIELD CONTROL... STANDBY... ALL GATEWAYS... OPENED... INITIATING DEPLOYMENT OF INFANTRIES... ALL WARP GATES... OPENED... INITIATING DEPLOYMENT OF WAR MACHINES... ALL GRAVITY STABILISERS... OPENED... INITIATING DEPLOYMENT OF SHIPS... BUILDING SIGNAL TRANSMITTER... BATTLEFIELD CONTROL ONLINE..."**

* * *

(Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base... on a plateau approximately 20 miles away from primary Scrin forward base... Mar Sara...)

Zeratul is out in the field, staring at the scenery from the top of the plateau while the Protoss base behind him is slowly getting warped in. Above him is the mighty Mothership _Aiuron_, which is overseeing the construction of the base. Just then, right beside him, a small warp field is generated, as Furon himself warps in right beside Zeratul.

"_Any replies from Shakuras?"_ Zeratul asks his companion.

"_Hierarch Artanis had spoken that he would arrive as soon as he can! However, he did state that he was unable to convince the other tribes to join in the battle, so he told us not to expect any large reinforcements!"_ Furon replies.

Zeratul sighs as he hears from the responses from Shakuras, relayed by Furon. He has already heard from Furon that the Protoss allied forces stationed on Shakuras had gradually splintered into smaller tribes since his departure. It seems that centuries of hatred and distrust between the Khalai and Nerazim are not that easy to resolve. Even when facing a common enemy, the truce held between the two rival groups can only be temporary. The events that had transpired during the Brood War are testaments to the continued hostility between the Khalai and Nerazim, mainly the rebellion instigated by the former Khalai Judicator Aldaris (even though he was doing it for a noble cause (2)). Zeratul knows that he would have lots of work to do after he gets back to Shakuras. At least there is the good news that Artanis himself would later arrive to assist them.

"_Prelate, there is another issue that you must know!" _Furon continues, _"Our Observers had scouted and discovered that most of the zergs were killed from the exposure of Ichor, with only very few of them surviving and transforming into the mutants! If we strike now, we may have the chance to end this threat before it's too late!"_

"_Indeed! This is the best chance for us to eliminate the abominations when they are still in the early phase of growth," _Zeratul agrees, _"it's just that we must not forget and ignore the threat posed by the arrival of the Scrin! Furon, prepare the defence while the troops are warped in; I have a bad feeling that we are in for a much harder fight than we have anticipated!"_

As Zeratul speaks, his gaze remains fixed on a sight of a rising tower approximately 20 miles away from his current location; the sight of an enormous purple and silver triple-spiral tower arranged in a triple-helix structure similar to those of a DNA.

Suddenly, Zeratul notices something approaching from the horizon. There seems to be 4 disc-shaped fighter-sized flying objects speeding towards their base, leaving trails of purple light behind...

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Wrath of the Locusts: Intelligence

The Protoss forces are about to fall under the full might of a Scrin invasion. Will they be victorious? Will Artanis and the reinforcements arrive in time?

* * *

(1) According to C&C wiki, the weapon name of Stormriders are called "twin energy weapons". However, I think this weapon name sounds too vague, hence I decide to change it. In my point of view, the weapons that the Stormriders employ look similar to those used by Protoss Stalkers, hence I think they are some sort of a disruptor cannon.

(2) Remember that Aldars instigated a revolt on Shakuras during the Brood War because he had somehow realised that the Dark Templars' matriarch Raszagal had been controlled by Kerrigan.

* * *

A brief history about the Scrin after the Third Tiberium War on Earth

After the defeat on Earth, the Scrin harvesting fleet under the leadership of Foreman 371 and his Mothership had managed to activate the last standing Threshold Tower number 19 and use its warp way function to evacuate from Earth and return to the Ichor Hub based on their home planet. By doing so, Foreman 371 had rescued millions of Scrin soldiers from a certain doom on a hostile alien (in their point of view) planet. However, his actions meant that he had openly defied the orders given by his Supervisor to investigate more about the mysterious individual known as Kane. Although both the Supervisor and the Overlord were not pleased about Foreman 371's insubordination, the Overlord forgave the foreman's crimes as his actions did save millions of their own kin, which is much needed for a race that has been on a slow decline due to their overdependence of Ichor.

The Overlord immediately ordered for a full-scale invasion against Earth, using the only standing Threshold Tower on Earth as a beacon and a gateway for their armada to enter and invade Earth. However, during Foreman 371's retreat, his Mothership AI had advised him to reset the gateway destination settings of Threshold Tower 19 after their retreat, with the reason that the AI feared that the technological levels of both GDI and Nod are advanced enough to possibly reverse-engineer their technology and even use the Threshold Tower itself against the Scrin. It feared that they might use the tower as a gateway to launch a counter-attack and send in an invasion force against their home planet, which was in a vulnerable state since the Scrin armada was scattered across the universe at that time. Trusting the judgement of his artificial intelligence advisor, Foreman 371 did just that, resetting the gateway destination settings of Threshold Tower 19 through remote control means after his forces fully evacuated from Earth. As a result, the only way to locate and return to Earth had been lost. Needless to say, both the Supervisor and the Overlord were furious. As a consequence, the Supervisor demanded for the execution of Foreman 371 for insubordination, but the Overlord was more lenient as he saw the potential usefulness of the foreman as he was the only surviving foreman to have fought on Earth and he had known a lot about the tactics employed by Earth's indigenous species, which they would later learn that they were called humans. The Overlord foresaw that they might encounter the humans as a future enemy of their race, hence Foreman 371's intelligence about the humans might prove valuable. Still, a punishment had been made when Foreman 371 had been forced to reformat his Mothership, which he had been reluctant to do so as his Mothership AI had been the one to save him from death on Earth by giving the correct tactical advice and even overriding the unscrupulous demands given by the Supervisor.

After reformatting his Mothership, Foreman 371 had once again been sent to wander around the universe, waiting for a new Ichor LQ detonation signal to begin another harvesting operation. During the centuries of waiting, the overall Ichor level stored in the Ichor Hub at the Scrin's home planet had been running dangerously low. In an act of desperation to ensure the survival of their race, the Overlord had ordered the entire race to lock themselves into stasis mode. Hence throughout the centuries after the defeat on Earth, the Scrin had remained dormant, with their armada scattered across the universe, ready to be reawakened with the detection of any Ichor LQ detonation signal.

* * *

2 races with similar technology are about to clash. Positive review will encourage me to write more quickly, so please R&R!

Thanks!


	17. Act 16:Wrath of the Locusts:Intelligence

I would first like to thank MegaAuthor for pointing out my mistake of writing every Protoss vanishing in blue wisps as they die. If you have checked the Starcraft wiki, you would know that it isn't always the case.

Sorry for the long update; the anticipated first conflict between the Protoss and the Scrin turns out to be taking me much longer time to write than I thought. Originally I planned to finish it in one chapter, but it seems that it would take more than one chapter to do so. As a result, I have to divide this battle into many parts.

It's nearly been a year since I have started this fanfic, and I have to admit that I still have a lot in my mind to incorporate into this story. After thinking for some time, I have decided to make Starcraft AU: Tiberium Galaxy into a trilogy like the Starcraft 2 trilogy. The timeline of the entire trilogy will occur simultaneously along with the timeline of Starcraft 2, at year 2504 and beyond. Each part of the trilogy shall focus mainly on each of the 3 main factions that derive from Tiberium universe, in which this first part is focusing mainly on the Brotherhood of Nod, as well as a bit on the arrival of Scrin in the Koprulu Sector. Of course there will be some focus on the Starcraft factions, mainly when there will be some deviations from the main canon storyline due to the involvement of the C&C factions. Thank you for all your support this year and I promise I will try to write this story as fast as I can.

To CC fanboy: Thanks for pointing out the mistakes! Yeah, I know that there may be some wrong facts stated about the Scrin when I wrote that previous chapter, but since the official data about the Scrin is not provided adequately by Westwood or EA other than their performance in C&C3, there are not much things we really know about the Scrin (such as their home planet, their origins, their looks, etc...). Hence for the plot of my story, I decided to guess some of the Scrin's fact such as their current crisis in near extinction due to overdependence of Ichor; since I needed a reason of why Scrin was desperate to invade the Koprulu Sector.

To starspawn07: The Xel'naga only have "plans" for the zergs and the hybrids. As for the rest, I can only say that they have "lost control" of them (or else why do you think they have been driven off by the Protoss or nearly destroyed by the Overmind-led zergs). Thanks for your suggestion as well, I guess I can consider it.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

ESTABLISHING BATTLEFIELD CONTROL... STANDBY...

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 16: WRATH OF THE LOCUSTS: INTELLIGENCE**

(Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base... Mar Sara...)

Zeratul catches sight of 4 approaching unidentified flying objects speeding towards their base from the horizon. The 4 flying appear to be dark purplish in colour, around the size of a Mutalisk and shaped like manta rays. From a distance, it is hard to tell whether the objects are biological or mechanical.

"_Furon; we have 4 unidentified objects heading towards our base!" _Zeratul warns.

Hearing Zeratul's warning, Furon looks up and sees the 4 mysterious flying objects too. By now, several other Protoss warriors have noticed the 4 unidentified flying objects; with half of them getting confused with what they are, while the other half tenses up and prepares for the unexpected.

While Furon and the rest of the Protoss forces stare at the 4 Stormriders in awe, unsure of what to do, the 4 Scrin fighters have already reached and flown right in front of the Protoss base. Then, without warning, the Stormriders let loose their twin disruptor cannons, strafing across the base, releasing an eerie machine-like howl as they zoom across the base.

"_BASE IS UNDER ATTACK!"_

Zeratul and Furon immediately dodge the incoming energy projectiles. As they try to resume their ground, they can see that some of the other warriors are not so lucky; as they get knocked off by the disruptor cannons. Fortunately, their plasma shields protect them from receiving any actual damage.

"_The Scrin is attacking us! All forces, engage and repel off these invaders!" _Furon barks out to the troops, as they start to recover from their initial shock. As soon as the Stormriders finish the first strafing run, all the Protoss anti-air weapons begin to fire into the sky.

Responding to heavy anti-air fire, the Stormriders begin to disperse and start to head back to the direction where they came from. 2 of them do not make it back to their base; when one has its right wing blown off by a series of Photon Cannon shots, while the other gets shattered by a barrage of purification beams by _Aiuron _itself. The other 2 manage to escape with green smoke trailing behind.

"_The enemy is getting away! Phoenix Flight Oryon; pursue the enemy and don't let them escape!" _Furon orders. He is now furious of the unprovoked attacks by the Scrin and is determined to wipe out all of the offending Scrin fighters.

However, Zeratul is better in keeping his cool, _"No wait! That may be a trap! Recall Flight Oryon; send in 2 Observers to follow those Scrin flyers!" _as Zeratul overrides Furon's orders, he turns back towards his companion, _"Furon! You have almost made another blunder with your impatience again! Are you going to send more of our brothers to their needless doom?"_

"_But prelate, we can't let those aliens to get away with that... barbaric attacks! They have started shooting at us without warning; so this means that they are hostile in the first place! We cannot show mercy to these creatures if the prophecies about the fourth creation are true! We must strike back before they can attack again!" _Furon defends himself.

"_That may be true; but you must not overlook the fact that our Phoenixes may get under attack by more Scrin if they pursue those flyers! Other than those spoken in the prophecies, we know nothing about this new enemy! We must learn more about their force composition and military infrastructure before we can plan out an attack!" _Zeratul reminds.

"_And let them rally another force to attack us? Forgive me for questioning your decision, prelate, but what if the next wave we'll see is a fleet of enemy capital ships rather than just 4 fighters?"_

Zeratul sighs; it seems that Furon is getting more restless and agitated about the sudden appearance of not just the Zergs or Ichor, but also the Scrin. From centuries of experience in cooperating with other younger Protoss commanders, Zeratul can tell that Furon is feeling more insecure about dealing with a new unknown enemy; one behaviour that he has witnessed a lot of times when the Protoss race had first made hostile encounters against the Terrans and the Zergs. If they are to live through this first encounter against the Scrin, he must first calm Furon down.

"_Then we'll fight them till the end; you and I! We'll go through this together!"_ Zeratul replies. Furon looks back at the seasoned Dark Templar and stares at him in awe. It seems that Zeratul's reply has the desired effect in making Furon to have peace with his mind.

Satisfied with Zeratul's words, Furon remarks, _"So be it! Thank you for your support, prelate! It is my honour to have commanded alongside with you! We'll return to the Nexus and decide our next actions! Right now, let us find out what the Scrin are up to!"_

Relieved that Furon has finally calmed himself and returns to being an able executor, Zeratul replies, _"Thank you, executor! But I believe it is my responsibility to lead the troops out here myself! I'll leave you in the Nexus to coordinate our actions, Furon!"_

"_Thank you for placing such high level of trust upon me, Prelate Zeratul!" _Furon tells Zeratul before he starts to head back to the base's Nexus, _"May Tassadar guide us to our victory!"_

* * *

(Inside Scrin primary forward base Drone Platform...)

From his battlefield control interface, Foreman 371 has seen the military capabilities of the second indigenous species discovered on this planet through his 4 scouting Stormriders. After witnessing 2 of the 4 scouting Stormriders failing to return to base just after one strafing round, the foreman is impressed... and worried.

'**Impressive! Not only do these species also utilise shield technology to protect themselves from the Stormriders' weapons, their shield technology appears to be even more advanced than ours; in the way that their shield generator is so portable that even their most basic foot soldier is protected. It seems that every one of them are protected with their shields; soldiers, ships, war machines and structures. We must dissect and study their shield technology after we have disposed of them!' **Foreman 371 thinks, **'Still, I wonder how strong are their shields? Will their shields fail if attacked repeatedly, just like ours?'**

While Foreman 371 is still in thoughts about the enemy's shield technology, his Mothership AI suddenly alerts him of an unwelcome presence,

"**STEALTH UNIT DETECTED!"**

Upon hearing the alarm of possible enemy infiltrators, Foreman 371 immediately looks around in his command interface. Soon enough, he spots 2 small, cloaked flying machines which resemble like 2 flying mechanical eyeballs, thanks to the detection by a few scouting Seekers.

'**Based on the colour scheme of these flying objects, it appears they belong to those second species... this is the chance to study their equipment!' **the foreman realises, and quickly orders the Seekers, **"Shoot down those 2 flying infiltrators!"**

* * *

(At the Seeker scout force...)

While 2 injured Stormriders fly past above them, the advanced sensors of the 3 Seekers pick up signals of 2 hidden unidentified objects following their fellow injured fighters. The 3 flat, symmetrical, amoeba-shaped, medium-sized hovering light tanks mounted with a plasma disc launcher quickly transmit their discovery to their foreman back in the forward base, awaiting for further orders.

Soon enough, the Seekers receive the order from their foreman to shoot down the 2 unidentified infiltrators. With pin-point accuracy, the Seekers launch their volleys of plasma discs at the 2 cloaked targets.

The plasma shields of the Observers quickly begin to work as they shield the Observers from the harm of the plasma discs. However, due to the reason that the plasma shield generator carried by the Observers are very small, the shields are not strong enough to fully protect the flying eyes from harm's way. In just a few volleys, the plasma discs have fully depleted the Observers' plasma shields. Before the Observers can be even ordered to get away from the scene, the Seekers have successfully downed the harmless flying detectors.

* * *

(Inside Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base Nexus...)

Furon is analysing the footages brought back by his Observers that Zeratul had just sent to trail the Scrin fighters earlier. Although the Observers had just got shot down by what seems to be enemy anti-air light tanks, they had brought back many footages of the enemy forces, which may allow him to have a rough idea of what they will be facing against.

Furon believes that the hovering light tanks can be detectors, since the Observers should have remained hidden from plain sight due to the installed micro-cloaking generator. These tanks appear to have anti-air role by utilising volleys of some kind of energy discs; although it is unknown on whether these energy discs are capable of targeting ground units or not.

When the Observers had been trailing the injured Scrin fighter pair before getting shot down, they had managed to stumble upon an army of Scrin, which seemed to be heading towards the direction of their base. These Scrin units might not look big, they make up their lack of size with their numbers. The wave of approaching Scrin made up mostly of swarms of what seems to be bug-sized flying buzz-saws, accompanied by squads of pony-sized insectoid-shaped walking gun platforms and rounded beetle-shaped walkers about a fraction of the size of their Stalkers. Most of them seemed eerily similar in shape to the figures in the hieroglyphics portrayed in Braxis by Zeratul's Ihan crystal. Judging by the numbers and size, Furon believed that this wave might have comprised mainly of Scrin infantries; but it was unknown whether these were the true looks of the Scrin or just their battlesuits or mechs.

Before the moments of the Observers' encounter against the Scrin detecting light hover tanks, they had sighted what seemed to be larger quadruped walkers around the size of their Stalkers. These walkers had 4 thin spread-out insect-like legs, with body shaped by like a coiled C-shaped hook with a sharp pointed end at the front.

Furon grunts in frustration; although he had managed to take a glimpse on the Scrin's army composition thanks to the Observers, he still had little information about them other than their appearance. Even though he knew how they had looked like, he had no idea on their capabilities, other than the detectors which appeared to be an anti-air unit. Other than that, he knew nothing on how the other sighted Scrin units fight. Also, he had not yet seen their ships or their larger war machines as portrayed in the hieroglyphics in Braxis, causing Furon to wonder whether these forces are just scouts or there could be more Scrin heavy weapons ready to show up. If the Observers had not encountered the Scrin detectors so early, he might have seen even more about the Scrin, probably even be able to trace back and pin-point the location of their base and how their structures look like.

Still, Furon did get one vital piece of information; the Scrin is coming again, and heading towards the location of their base. He must prepare for the defence of the newly established forward base before Hierarch Artanis and the reinforcements arrive.

* * *

(Outside Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base defence line...)

There are 2 adjacent slopes that can lead towards the top of the plateau where the base had been constructed. The Protoss know that these 2 paths must be heavily defended if they are to prevent their base from getting overrun by enemies on the ground. Arrays of Photon Cannon turrets powered by Pylons had been constructed along the edges of the base, including the chokepoints of the 2 entrance pathways. Further reinforcing the defence lines are squads of Stalkers, ready to defend the base from further aerial assaults. At the 2 pathways, rows of Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries, and a few Immortals and High Templar stand ready to hold off the chokepoints. At the sky above the base, _Aiuron_, escorted by flights of remaining Scouts, Phoenixes and a few remaining Void Rays and Carriers that had survived the earlier conflicts against the Brotherhood of Nod and Zerg invaders.

The base may be heavily defended, but these Protoss are not going to risk underestimating their new opponents. When news of a wave of Scrin units have been sighted heading towards their base, all the defenders stay on guard, ready to defend their base with their lives.

A few minutes later, the Protoss fighters begin to catch sight of the approaching wave of Scrin infantries. Most of the Zealots standing at the front of the defence line are about to charge in and strike, until Zeratul himself stands out in front and signals them to hold their ground first.

"_Not yet! We'll strike when they are caught at the narrow entrance of the pathways, when they are under fire by our turrets!" _Zeratul tells his troops, which they quietly obey.

Zeratul observes the Scrin forces; majority of them appear to be swarms of tiny flying buzz-saws, but he can psionically sense that these swarms are controlled by cores of psionic conscience. If he can strike his warp blade into these cores, he may be able to take out these swarms of tiny buzz-saws.

Once the Buzzers start to swarm up along the narrow entrances to the Protoss base, the Photon Cannons turrets begin to swivel their guns towards the Buzzers and start firing. At the same time, Zeratul gives the signal to attack, _"NOW! Focus your minds and strike at their cores!"_

"_CHARGE!"_

"_EN TARO TASSADAR!"_

The Zealots rush in and clash with their new enemies, while the Stalkers, Sentries and Immortals provide suppressive fire from behind along with the Photon Cannons. Braving through the swarms of tiny buzz-saws, many Zealots trust their safety to their plasma shields while they themselves storm into the middle of the swarm and stab at the Buzzer cores with their psi blades. Thanks to their plasma shields, the Zealots manage to get through the Buzzer swarms mostly unharmed; while the Buzzers dissipate with a dying screech. Many of the Buzzers are also taken out by the ranged fire of the Protoss walkers, Sentries and defence turrets.

As the Buzzer swarm diminishes in size, Disintegrators and Shock Troopers begin to try to force themselves through the defence line. As the Zealots try to close in, the pony-sized walking gun platforms begin to fire their rapid-firing plasma cutters, while the beetle-shaped Scrin heavy infantries launch their plasma discs from behind. Once again, thanks to their plasma shields, the Zealots barge through the Scrin offences and start to cut down the more fragile Disintegrators with their psi blades. However, as the Disintegrators and Shock Troopers resume their fire, many of the Zealots' shields begin to fail, causing a few Zealots to fall in battle while others begin to suffer damages to their armour. Fortunately, the extra Guardian Shields set up by Sentries manage to prevent the Zealots from suffering further casualties. In just less than 2 minutes since the combat had begun, it had ended with Zeratul stabbing the last Shock Trooper through its eyes with his warp blade.

After the battle has ended, Zeratul begins to examine the remains of the quadruped creatures that he has just stabbed. As he takes a closer look, he realises that the things they have just fought against appear to mechanical, built by some kind of composite metal that contain traces of Ichor. However, these things also seem to bleed out some kind of green fluid like blood. Letting his curiosity overcomes him, Zeratul decides to carefully cut open the Scrin quadruped creature with his warp blade to see what it really looks like in the insides. Other Zealots surrounding Zeratul also close in, curious to see what Zeratul will find about these new enemies.

With the Scrin Shock Trooper bisected, Zeratul is surprised to see different kinds of organs, and vessels that line the insides of the alien walker, as if it is a living organism itself (1). The exoskeleton and the and the ligaments holding the limbs, however, seem to be made of metal. There seems to be a small chamber, made of both organic and inorganic compounds, inside the 'brain' area, which looks like a piloting chamber. Unfortunately the chamber has been badly burnt beyond recognition, probably due to the finishing blow that Zeratul has just dealt to kill it off. The only conclusion Zeratul can come out with is that the Scrin themselves may have been very tiny in size, and they combat their enemies by piloting biomechanical war machines or battlesuits like these Shock Troopers.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

Furon makes some mental note on the conflict that had just taken place earlier just outside his base. Thanks to Zeratul and his base defenders, not only was their base preserved, he had also managed to analyse the battle capabilities of the Scrin infantry units.

He had seen the bulk of the Scrin army, swarms of flying buzz-saws, are dangerous in melee due to their cutting blades; but they do have a weakness in the form of their psionic core, which can be destroyed using psi blades and other weapons. The small walking gun platforms are armed with close-ranged rapid-firing energy beam weapons that appear to be strong in cutting through any form of armour, but they themselves are very lightly armoured and fragile. Then there is the more heavily armoured beetle-shaped ones that appear to launch energy discs from a distance, which appears to be anti-armour too.

After witnessing on how the Scrin infantries fought, Furon felt relieved a bit. From the brief skirmish in front of his base, he had learnt that the Scrin most likely comprised of biomechanical units that have powerful offensive weapons and capabilities, but lack adequate protection. Compared to them, his warriors have their shields and armour that can provide enough protection for them to charge through Scrin assaults, before they can reach and strike down their more fragile opponents.

Still, there are a few things that Furon is curious about; the swarms of buzz-saw appear to be controlled by a core of psionic conscience, so does that mean that the Scrin can be psionically sensitive as well? Does psionic Scrin unit exists? If they do, what are they capable of? If there are psionic Scrin soldiers out around here somewhere, maybe he should not underestimate his new enemy too much.

Also, Furon still has no idea on the capabilities of the larger Scrin units, such as the Stalker-sized quadruped walker sighted minutes earlier, and the 3-legged ones portrayed in Braxis. Right now, Furon knows that another wave, comprising of more swarms of buzz-saws and the Stalker-sized walkers, are now heading towards his base. This time, however, Furon chooses to go on the offensive, planning to send Zeratul and his warriors to meet their opponents before the enemy can reach the base. He is planning to send out a ground strike force comprising of the ground-based defending units that have been stationed at the base entrances earlier. As for the defence of the base, he plans to leave it to the perimeter Photon Cannons, Stalkers stationed at base perimeters, and most importantly, his ships.

* * *

(Outside the Nexus... at the Protoss base entrance...)

"_I hope that you are sure about this, Furon!"_ Zeratul remarks as he receives Furon's new orders. Unlike his companion, Zeratul is not too keen in leaving the defence of their base thinned down so that Furon can meet and analyse more about Scrin's combat capabilities. However, he does agree with Furon's ideas that they should focus on being offensive before the enemy starts to send in more powerful weapons.

With the final decision made, Zeratul begins to lead the small army comprising of 15 Zealots, 8 Stalkers, 8 Sentries, 2 Immortals and 2 High Templar to assault the enemy forces. In order to prevent the same mistakes of encountering ambushes, which happened during the earlier conflicts against the Brotherhood of Nod, Furon had sent 2 Observers to follow the army so that if there is a chance of any hidden enemies, the Observers can spot them out and allow the army to prepare for them and fight them.

* * *

(A few minutes later... about a mile away from the Protoss base...)

The Protoss strike army led by Zeratul is marching towards the direction of where the Scrin army is coming from, when they receive warnings of enemy presence from the Observers which are a few metres ahead of them.

Soon enough, Zeratul and his army quickly catch sight of Buzzer swarms comprising of 8 separate cores and 4 Scrin walkers (Gun Walkers) approaching. With his forces outnumbering his enemies, Zeratul decides to take the initiative and launch the attack before the enemy can respond.

With a loud war cry, the Zealots charge right into the Buzzers, hacking and slashing the cores while ignoring the swarms of blades cutting their plasma shields. In response, the Scrin walkers begin to attack by pointing their pointed ends at the Zealots and start firing bursts of disruptor cannon. In order to support the Zealots upfront, the Stalkers, Sentries and Immortals begin to provide suppressive fire with their ranged weapons. Some of the Sentries even cast hallucinations to produce mirror images of the Zealots upfront to distract the Scrin walkers; and the plan seems to be working as the Gun Walkers are starting to shoot at the mirror images other than the real Zealots.

As more the Buzzer swarms diminish in size and numbers, the remaining 4 of the Buzzer cores start to head towards the Gun Walkers and to the surprise of the Protoss warriors, merge with the Scrin walkers by surrounding them like a protective wall of flying buzz-saws. One of the Zealots, whose shield has been fully depleted during combat against the Buzzers, tries to slash at the Scrin walker; only to end up getting shredded by the protective wall of Buzzers. Another Zealot also with fully depleted shield falls as bursts of disruptor cannon are shot through the Zealot's chest. The 2 fallen Zealots quickly vanish into wisps of blue flames, leaving nothing behind their trace.

Still, the combined Buzzers and Gun Walkers quickly fall under the combined assault of Zealots and Protoss walkers, especially the Immortals which phase disruptor cannons appear to be very effective in blasting the Scrin walkers into collapsing heaps of junk. Without the Gun Walkers to merge with, the remaining Buzzers are quickly annihilated by the Stalkers and Sentries.

While the fight had been taking place, Zeratul had been observing the capabilities of the Scrin walkers and by reading the thought s of the Buzzer cores, he quickly learnt that the tiny buzz-saw swarms have the ability to merge with larger Scrin war machines to form a protective layer of Buzzers around the war machines. After experiencing combat these swarms of tiny flying buzz-saws not just once, but twice, Zeratul has made a mental note to avoid getting into close combat against these buzzing swarm of blades; although their cores are vulnerable and easy to destroy with their weapons, their blades are very sharp and with sheer numbers, they can quickly deplete the plasma shields of his warriors, making them more vulnerable to further attacks. Zeratul hopes that Furon, who had been observing the battles through the Observers, would also notice this.

With the 2nd wave of Scrin assault dealt with, Zeratul rallies the remaining strike army and begins to lead them towards the direction where the Scrin assaults seem to be coming from.

* * *

(Inside the Nexus...)

After the strike army's encounter against the Scrin's 2nd wave of attack, Furon feels that he is starting to understand more a bit about the enemy's combat capabilities. Like Zeratul, he thinks that the tiny buzz-saw swarms are too dangerous to fight up close even though his Zealots can still easily beat them in a melee battle. The main problem with these swarms are that their flying swarm of blades deplete the plasma shields of his warriors too quickly, causing them to be more vulnerable against further attacks by other Scrin units. He figures out that the best way of taking out these things are by shooting at their cores from a distance, preferably by Stalkers.

Besides learning about the Buzzers, Furon has also analysed the Scrin quadruped walker which has a strange slight resemblance to their Stalkers. Strangely enough, these Scrin walkers not just only look a bit like their Stalkers, their weapons also seem similar in nature; except that they appear to be firing them from a single cannon with quicker bursts compared to the twin particle disruptors of their Stalkers. On a closer inspection however, Furon has noticed that the enemy walkers' energy projectiles do not seem to have the same armour piercing capabilities like his Stalkers, indicating that these enemy walkers seem to be designed to take on lighter targets. This may have explained why they are targeting his Zealots as their first targets rather than returning fire against Furon's more armoured Stalkers and Immortals.

As Furon is summarising his observations and informing them to Zeratul out there in the frontline, he makes another visual of the enemies through the Observers; this time it is another wave of the same type of Scrin fighters that have just attacked his base earlier; about 8 of them this time.

As the enemy fighters are approaching from another direction, avoiding the path of Zeratul's strike army, Furon decides that rather than let these fighters to shoot at his structures again, he would test out their performance against his own fighters. In response, he sends in 4 Phoenixes and 4 Scouts to engage the enemy fighters.

* * *

(Outside the Nexus...)

The flight of 8 Scrin Stormriders are heading towards the Protoss base, trying to probe the base of this unknown enemy for any possible weaknesses. However, before they can reach their target destination, they encounter 8 enemy fighters, of 2 different kinds with 4 each. Knowing that a dogfight is inevitable, the Stormriders begin to engage the enemy fighters.

The faster moving Phoenixes are the first to engage the Stormriders as they shoot out their ion blasters while flying towards the Scrin fighters head on. Ion blasters and disruptor cannons head towards each other as the air-superiority fighters on both sides fire at each other head on. A few moment later, the Protoss Scouts begin to join in the combat, launching anti-matter missiles at the disc-shaped alien fighters.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

Furon observes the dogfight through an Observer that has been secretly observing the battle between his fighters and his enemy's. Based on his observations, it seems that the energy weapons of the enemy fighters can target both surface and aerial threats, making it a very versatile aircraft. The speed of these fighters are almost as fast as his Phoenixes, and although they are not as manoeuvrable as his Phoenixes, they make up with this shortcoming by having weapons that can fire at any directions, even if their enemies are at their back. Despite their slightly smaller size compared to his fighters, the enemy fighters are quite heavily armoured for an aircraft of its size, since ion blasters appear to have some difficulties in punching through their armour. Fortunately, these Scrin fighters lack the plasma shields that his fighters are equipped with; and anti-matter missiles launched by Scouts seem to be effective in knocking out the alien fighters out from the skies. Through the observation, Furon witnesses one of the enemy fighters being blasted into scrap metal by a volley of anti-matter missiles.

Still, Furon decides to take note that the Scrin fighters should not be underestimated, as they are not just fast and armoured, their weapons are able to attack at any directions and fire at rapid succession that is as fast as the Phoenixes. As a result, some of his Phoenixes have begun taking damages when their shields get fully exhausted by shielding off the enemies' attacks.

After a few minutes, the dogfight is over. Furon's fighters have won, but with the cost of half of the number of fighters sent to engage the enemies.

Just then, Furon receives a distress call from Zeratul out in the field,

"_OUR WARRIORS HAVE ENGAGED THE ENEMY!"_

Surprised by the sudden engagement, Furon quickly switches view on the Khaydarin crystal terminal of the Nexus so that he can observe what has happened to the strike army.

* * *

(Outside the Protoss base... at Zeratul's strike army side...)

Zeratul and his strike army are still marching towards the direction where they believe the Scrin base is located, when they suddenly receive signals that their overhead Observers have been under attack. As the strike army rushes quickly to check what is ahead of them, they see more Scrin units.

This wave of Scrin comprises of 8 Buzzer cores, 10 Disintegrators, 2 Gun Walkers and 4 Seekers. Zeratul instantly recognises the Seekers as the Scrin light hover tanks that had been believed to have detector functions. He is proven right when the Seekers actively target the Observers and fire their volleys of plasma discs. One of the Seekers even begin to point itself towards him, and fire plasma discs towards him. In response, Zeratul dodges the plasma discs with grace and agility, only allowing a few discs to graze his plasma shield.

While the Zealots, Stalkers and Immortals engage the Scrin forces, Zeratul quickly orders his Sentries to set up Guardian Shields around the strike army. With the added protection of Guardian Shields, the Scrin's multiple attacks prove to be ineffective, as the Zealots and Stalkers take little effort in taking down their enemies. The Seekers also quickly fall under the might of the Protoss walkers, as their armour are even lighter than those of the Gun Walkers.

Although another Scrin wave of assault has been repelled, Zeratul's strike force has been dealt with more casualties, with the loss of 3 more Zealots and 1 Observer.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

Furon sighs in relief as Zeratul's army has made it through again. However, he is getting concerned as more and more of his warriors fall when they encounter more Scrin assaults on their way towards the enemy forward base. The Scrin may not have decent protection, they certainly have superior offensive capabilities that can cause heavy damages to even his well-protected soldiers. Furon is worried that if this goes on, there may be not enough warriors for Zeratul and his strike army to attack the enemy main forward base with.

Also, with the destruction of 1 of the 2 Observers attached to the army, Furon is worried that if the enemy light hover tanks knock out the other Observer, the army will be prone to ambush attacks. These Scrin light hover tanks have confirmed Furon's suspicion that they can target both surface and aerial opponents with their volleys of energy discs. These discs seem to share the same armour-piercing capabilities like those used by the beetle-shaped walkers (Shock Troopers), indicating that they not just only fill up the roles of anti-air units, but also anti-armour as well. Furon has also noticed that these energy discs weapons have difficulty in striking lighter targets such as infantries, as proven by Zeratul and a few Zealots when they do successfully dodge some of the barrage of energy disc attacks.

As Furon watches Zeratul and his strike army to resume their march after the brief engagement, he has started to order the warping in of additional troops from the forward base, hoping to provide enough reinforcements for Zeratul before he and his forces get overrun by even more Scrin.

* * *

(Back inside the Scrin primary forward base Drone Platform...)

"**FOREMAN, OUR ASSIMILATORS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RETRIEVED THE REMAINS OF THE INDIGENOUS SPECIES AERIAL PROBE! IT WOULD TAKE SOME TIME FOR THE ASSIMILATORS TO STUDY THEIR TECHNOLOGY... OUR FORCES ARE UNDER ATTACK!"**

Foreman 371 quickly looks at his battlefield command interface to see that his next wave of scouting attack forces has been defeated by the second more advanced indigenous species on this planet. After seeing how these new enemies battle, Foreman 371 cannot help but realise that these new enemies can be much more difficult to fight against compared to the humans on Earth more than 400 years ago. This newly encountered race not only possess technology that is similar and as advanced as theirs, they have skills and physical capabilities to engage any opponents regardless close up or from a distance. This has been proven when the Buzzers are easily destroyed by the enemy frontline foot soldiers, who actually directly engage the Buzzers in a melee combat and win, something that has never happened before in Scrin military combat history. With the addition to enemy war machines, the enemy strike army comprising of less than half a hundred units had been easily disposing of every scouts that he had sent. From the path taken by the enemy army, the Scrin foreman can guess that they are most likely heading towards his base. If each and every of these enemies are so difficult to take down, and this forward base may even fall before the Threshold Tower is completed. This must not happen!

"**These new enemies are tough! Mothership, are the Growth Accelerators have been placed as I have commanded?" **Foreman 371 asks.

The Mothership AI replies, **"AFFIRMATIVE, FOREMAN! GROWTH ACCELERATORS HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED AT THE VARIOUS ICHOR CHASMS AROUND THE FORWARD BASE AS YOU HAVE COMMANDED! THE NUMBER OF REFINERIES AND HARVESTERS HAS ALSO BEEN INCREASED AS PER YOUR ORDERS! WITH THE INCREASED RATE OF ICHOR HARVESTING, WE NOW HAVE ADEQUATE RESOURCES TO BEGIN WARP-IN OF HEAVIER WEAPONS! THE STORM COLUMNS ARE FUNCTIONING NORMALLY; WITH THE CREATION OF THE LOCALISED ION STORM ABOVE OUR BASE, WE CAN HAVE A BETTER CHANCE TO HOLD OFF THE ENEMY ASSAULT! SIGNAL TRANSMITTER IS READY FOR WARP-IN!"**

"**That will be good; place the Signal Transmitter quickly, but don't call in the Mothership yet! We must not let our enemies be aware of our most important ship! Prepare to warp-in additional units, including the tripods and the ships! Get the Technology Assembler to upgrade our weapons! We'll need the full might of our weapons to combat these new indigenous species!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED! TRAINING... "**

* * *

(Back at Zeratul's strike army... current location approximately 10 miles away from primary Scrin forward base...)

Zeratul withdraws his warp blade after dealing a finishing blow to a Scrin Gun Walker. Along their way to search for the enemy's exact base location, Zeratul and his strike army had encountered several more squads of Scrin scouts. Although all of these scouts had been easily eliminated, the strike army had suffered casualties, leaving Zeratul himself, 1 Observer, 6 Zealots, 4 Sentries, 6 Stalkers, 2 Immortals and 2 High Templars left. After done dealing with another Scrin scouting forces, the strike army resumes their march.

As they go on marching, they pass by the boundary of a green Ichor patch.

"_Remember brothers; use your training in the way of Khala to resist the infestation of Ichor!" _Zeratul reminds his small army as they walk dangerously close by the Ichor patch. Just then, the lone Observer picks up presence of more hostiles.

"_Prelate! We've sighted Scrin infantries approaching from the Ichor patch!"_ one of the High Templars warn the rest of the army.

True to the High Templar's words, the army sees another swarm of Buzzers, Disintegrators, Shock Troopers and a new kind of never before seen Scrin unit. The newly observed Scrin is around the same size as those rounded beetle-shaped ones, but they have 4 elongated stilt-like legs and they have Ichor crystals growing on their backs. Also the beetle-shaped Shock Troopers look a little bit different than usual; with the addition of some kind of antenna on their backs.

The army is surprised to see that the Scrin has attacked from inside the Ichor patch, seemingly scurrying inside the dreaded crystal field without fear of infestation. Although Zeratul has already suspected that the Scrin not just only can adapt to the presence of Ichor, they can even thrive in it if the records on Braxis are correct. Still, it is quite surprising for the rest of the army to learn that the Scrin are completely immune to the harmful effects of Ichor.

While still standing inside the Ichor field, the Shock Troopers and the newly arrived Ravagers begin to fire at the Protoss army, launching plasma discs and Tiberium shards at Zeratul's soldiers. In retaliation, the Sentries set up Guardian Shields, while the Stalkers, Sentries and Immortals begin to fire back at the Scrin with their respective weapons. Using their training in the way of Khala, the Zeratul and the Zealots charge into the Ichor field and resist its infestation while engaging the Buzzers and Disintegrators.

During the fight, Zeratul begins to feel something not right when engaging these aliens on an Ichor field. It is starting to take more slashes to fully destroy the core of a Buzzer. When Zeratul sees a Zealot slashes a Shock Trooper, he notices that the wounds of the Shock Trooper is regenerating at a much faster rate than before.

'_The Scrin has enhanced regeneration now! The flow of energy around this Ichor field... can that be the effect of Ichor onto these Scrin?' _Zeratul wonders.

Due to the healing effects of Ichor on the Scrin infantries, the swarm of Scrin infantries is now more difficult to vanquish and is beginning to raise Protoss casualties. 2 more Zealots have fallen against the thousands of tiny blades of the Buzzers; 1 Stalker get shredded into pieces by Disintegrators; 2 more Stalkers have been shut down permanently by Shock Troopers. The newly arrived Ravagers have proven to be devastating against the lightly armoured Zealots and Sentries, as their flung Tiberium shards easily slice through the light armour of the Zealots and Sentries. An additional 2 Zealots and 2 Sentries have been taken out this way.

Still, despite the enhanced regeneration of the Scrin infantries on an Ichor field, Zeratul's forces have managed to reduce the enemy numbers until only a few Ravagers are left. The few remaining Ravagers suddenly stop flinging their Tiberium shards, as if sensing that they have lost and have given up fighting. Instead, they begin to fire some tiny beams at the Ichor crystals from their mouthpiece. As they do so, the Ichor field begin to glow very brightly, and sparks of energy surge can be seen as the Ichor field gets agitated by the Ravagers' actions.

Zeratul is puzzled what the Ravagers are doing, but he can tell that the psionic energy levels is becoming more and more highly unstable on the Ichor field where most of his troops are standing now.

'_Those things... they must be trying to detonate the unstable psionic energies locked within the Ichor field! This is bad!' _Zeratul curses mentally, _'I must warn all brothers!'_

"_Everyone! Get out of the Ichor field, NOW!"_

In hearing the dark prelate's warning, the Protoss strike army quickly dashes out of the Ichor field. At the same time, the unstable psionic energies locked within the Ichor field finally reach critical point thanks to agitation by the Ravagers. As a result, a powerful surge of electrical energy surges through the entire Ichor field, short-circuiting everything in its path, including the Ravagers that start the agitation.

Zeratul looks back after his army has just gotten out of the chain explosion. When he makes a headcount, he realises that another 2 more Zealots have not made it out, leaving just himself and 2 Zealots, 3 Stalkers, 2 Sentries, 2 Immortals, 1 Observer and 2 High Templars. With a greatly reduced army, Zeratul thinks that it is going to be too risky to lead this army to directly attack an enemy forward base.

As Zeratul is preparing to inform Furon to abort the attack, the Observer sounds out another warning of approaching Scrin, although this time it seems only 6 Shock Troopers have been sighted heading towards them from top of an adjacent cliff. From the place where the enemy Shock Troopers are approaching from, it seems that they are attempting to bombard the army from up above a cliff. This would not be too much of a problem if the army distances itself away from the cliff and stay out of the Shock Troopers' firing range.

Thanks to the early warning by the Observer, all the Protoss units manage to move out of the Shock Troopers' firing range before they can start shooting from up above the cliff. With very few units remaining, Zeratul feels that it will be wiser to try to avoid as many conflicts as possible. Instead, they will focus on locating the enemy forward base's exact location first before retreating; although Zeratul has a hunch that the enemy' primary forward base should be located at where the enormous spiral tower is located.

Suddenly, without warning, the Shock Troopers vanish, only to reappear right in front of Zeratul's army and begin firing their plasma discs.

'_What? When do these things learn how to blink across the field?' _Just then, Zeratul notices the antenna-like protrusions on the back of these Shock Troopers have been glowing after their sudden reappearance, _'Those antenna-like protrusions that have not been sighted on the earlier waves of the same type of Scrin... are they the reason of these Scrin's new abilities?'_

The army has been caught by surprise by the sudden appearance of the Shock Troopers, which proceed to demolish one of the more heavily damaged Stalkers. When they try to target the Immortals however, they realise that it is a big mistake as the Immortals' hardened shields easily shield off the plasma discs. Quick to regain their composure, the rest of the Protoss strike army return fire against the Shock Troopers, which quickly fall to the combined attacks before they can blink away again.

Zeratul curses; his forces have been dwindling by the numbers while the enemies are getting stronger. It appears that there are still some distances before they can reach the approximate location of the giant Scrin tower, where the Scrin base is most likely to be located in. If they encounter even more enemies in their path, they will risk total annihilation before even making a visual on a Scrin base. The attack has to be aborted!

"_Furon! The strike army has suffered severe casualties! Our numbers are too few right now and I'm afraid that this current number of warriors with me are not going to aid us a lot in launching an assault in the enemy base! We have to call off the attack now and rally up a much larger army first!"_ Zeratul informs Furon through long distance telepathy, who is commanding inside their base's Nexus.

A few seconds later, Zeratul receives a reply from Furon, _"Understood, prelate! I want you to stay at your current location first and hold off any enemy assaults! I'm sending reinforcements in your way! They'll be arriving shortly. More warriors will also be ready to aid you in the assault!"_

"_Understood, executor! I'll hold off the Scrin as long as I can!"_

* * *

(Inside primary Scrin forward base Drone Platform...)

Foreman 371 is checking the latest update of the number of casualties suffered by the engagement against their new enemies. From the pattern of the submitted casualty reports, the Scrin foreman can speculate that the enemy has sent in a not so large but very powerful strike army to head in towards their primary forward base, where the Threshold Tower is still under construction. Despite his best efforts to send in waves and waves of units to try to repel them, the enemy strike army presses on. The good news is that the waves of counter-assaults have managed to thin down their numbers, hence it is unlikely that they will try to press on the assault again. Still, he has to ensure that they are not continuing their advance; by sending in more waves to confirm his speculation.

"**Mothership; what is the estimated time to take for the Threshold Tower to complete its assembly?" **the foreman asks.

"**THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE THRESHOLD TOWER IS NOW 75% COMPLETE! IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ITS COMPLETE ASSEMBLY WILL TAKE PLACE IN... T-MINUS 120 MINUTES!"**

'**That is going to happen soon! I've been trying to summon in more units from the Portals, Warp Gates and Gravity Stabilisers, but that is too slow! The only way to hasten the warp-in of the entire armada is through the Threshold Tower! With the complete assembly of the Threshold Tower, all these indigenous species will stand no chance against us! Still, this amount of time may be enough for the enemy to counter-attack and ruin the construction! I must disrupt the enemy's military operations at their base to prevent that from happening!'**

With his thoughts rounded up, Foreman 371 decides to execute a new plan to stop his new enemies, **"Mothership; open up a Wormhole a few kilometres away from the rear of the enemy's base! Send in a Mastermind unit to infiltrate their base's rear! At the same time, send in an advanced armour column to accompany the Mastermind!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED! WORMHOLE OPENED..."**

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Wrath of the Locusts: Siege

The rear of the Protoss base comes under a sudden sneak attack by the Scrin forces, which had begun sending in heavier and more advanced weapons, led by an elite Mastermind. Can the base holds before Artanis arrives?

* * *

(1) The description of Scrin Shock Trooper anatomy that I've made is purely my own speculation. This is non-canon, so please no flaming.

* * *

This part of the battle may be quite long-winded, as commanders of both sides are more focused in gathering intelligence and learning more about the tactics of their new opponents. The next part will be posted very soon.


	18. Act 17: Wrath of the Locusts: Siege

As I had promised, here is the next chapter of the first conflict between the Protoss and the Scrin. It would be focused on the sudden Scrin assault onto the Protoss base.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

BASE IS UNDER ATTACKED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 17: WRATH OF THE LOCUSTS: SIEGE**

(About a mile away from the rear of the Protoss Expedionary Fleet forward base, Mar Sara...)

As there is no direct route to enter into the rear of the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base, the only form of protection there are a single row of Photon Cannon turrets and several Stalkers to defend the base from aerial assault; the rest of the defence are trusted upon the natural terrain of the plateau itself. So far, there does not seem to have anything trying to breach the rear defence line.

Suddenly, the fabric of space rips apart as a wormhole exit is formed about a mile away from the rear of the base. Like a warp rift opened out on the ground surface, several squads of Shock Troopers scurry out of the wormhole exit, as well as a horse-size quadruped Scrin infantry with 2 pairs of thread-like tentacles and a tall, tear-shaped crest; a Mastermind unit.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

"_Executor, we've picked up warp signatures originating from the rear of the base!"_ a High Templar initiate reports to Furon.

"_WHAT? Send in an Observer to the site of warp energy origin!" _Furon responds.

* * *

(Half a minute later...)

"_Im... possible! A wormhole?" _Furon is shocked, as an Observer footage of Scrin Shock Troopers and another single newly observed Scrin unit has been sighted exiting from the wormhole exit, located about a mile away from the rear of the base.

'_This is bad! From Prelate Zeratul's report, those rounded quadruped Scrin have recently evolved or developed blinking abilities like those of our Stalkers; if these things blink through the rear defences and right into the middle of our base, we'll be vulnerable to their attacks! Even with the remnants of our fleet including Aiuron defending the base, these Scrin's energy discs can still wreak havoc to our ships, thinning our defences and making us more vulnerable to future attacks! But what is that lone Scrin over there... Impossible; I've detected a powerful psionic energy signature originating from that Scrin! What is that? Regardless, I must neutralise the threat immediately!'_

After a brief analysis of the sudden change of event, Furon barks out his response orders, _"All Stalkers of the rear defence line, Scout Flight Aquila, Phoenix Flight Oryon, Carrier Tempest of Raszagal; get to the rear of the base and eliminate the Scrin threat at once! Destroy anything that comes out from that wormhole!"_

* * *

(Back at rear of Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base...)

From the exit of the wormhole, more Shock Troopers begin to scurry out. They are soon joined by several Seekers and Devourer Tanks. Led by the Mastermind, the Scrin strike force is ready to lay waste of the enemy base from a distance. However, before they can launch an assault against the enemy base, they realise that they will have to deal with enemy airpower and defending walkers, as they sense the approach of several Stalkers, Scouts, Phoenixes and a single Carrier.

Eager to engage the enemy, the Scrin forces rush in, unknowingly approach too close to the plateau and right within the firing range of the base's Photon Cannon defences. With the detection of enemy presences, the Photon Cannons turn to life and start firing at the Scrin war machines. At the same time, with the aid of cover fire by the base defences, the defending Protoss units begin to shoot at their Scrin opponents too.

Under the barrage of Protoss weapons, many Shock Troopers and Seekers begin to drop dead or blasted into scrap metal. However, they quickly regain their composure and start to launch their own barrage of plasma discs, mainly towards the Scrin fighters. The Devourer Tanks, on the other hand, start to fire their proton beam cannons at the Stalkers.

Encountering a vicious counter-assault by the Scrin invaders, some fighter and Stalkers begin to get ripped apart by the plasma discs and proton beams of the Scrin war machines. However, the Phoenixes begin to aid in the defence against the Scrin by immobilising and pulling up Scrin war machines using their graviton beams. There, trapped in the sky, the captured Scrin are sitting ducks to the ion blasters of the other Phoenixes and anti-matter missiles of the Scouts. The Carrier, _Tempest of Raszagal_, also begins to deploy its Interceptor drones to engage the alien menace.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

"_OUR WARRIORS HAVE ENGAGED THE ENEMY!"_

Furon pays attention to the footage of the skirmish taking place at the rear of his base through the Khaydarin crystal terminal inside the Nexus. From what he has observed, his forces seem to be evenly matched to those of the enemies in terms of quantity. In quality though, his forces appear to outclass the enemies, since he has matched Stalkers, fighters and a Carrier against enemy heavy infantries, light hover tanks and another newly observed Scrin tank which seems to fill the role of a hovering heavy assault tank.

The newly observed Scrin tank not only appears to fill the role of an anti-surface assault tank, it evenly looks like those deployed by the terrans; featuring a long tube-like cannon barrel protruding out from the front of a triangular-shaped turret, though the turret seems to be non-rotatable in the case of the Scrin tank. The body of the tank is leaf-shaped with a pointed-end tapered downwards like a beak of a bird-of-prey, without the presence of any tank threads or wheels that are commonly found in older terran tanks since the tank itself appears to be moving by a levitation device similar to how their Sentry drones move about. The armour of the new Scrin tanks appear to be much more heavily armoured compared to the detecting light hover tanks, as these tanks have been observed to have easily shrugged off barrages by Scouts and Interceptor drones; even particle disruptors fired from Stalkers

The weapon used by the Scrin heavy tank appears to be some form of slow-firing laser beam weapon that seem to cover quite a long range and has been effective against armour. Many Stalkers have been quickly reduced to smouldering pile of scrap metal by these beams. Furon suspects that these Scrin tanks are designed specifically for tank-to-tank battles or heavy direct base assault. The good news for Furon is; it seems that like most heavy assault tanks, these Scrin tanks are vulnerable against aerial threats as these tanks do not seem to be responding to the Scouts and Interceptors that are strafing them from the sky.

As the battle resumes at the rear of the base, Furon can see that his defenders are gradually winning against the Scrin invading forces. However, Furon knows that he cannot let down his guard yet, as the wormhole where the Scrin units are coming out from is still opened. Also, the mysterious Scrin infantry which has been recorded to hold a very powerful psionic potential has yet to get into action at all.

* * *

(Back inside primary Scrin forward base Drone Platform...)

"**UNIT LOST!"**

Foreman 371 is getting anxious as the attack forces led by a Mastermind unit in an attempt to infiltrate the rear of the base seems to be failing. Although this is not exactly true since the foreman is still gathering forces to be sent through the wormhole, still if the foreman does not send them through in time, he will risk the loss of the Mastermind unit, which will be vital for this infiltration plan that will lay waste to the indigenous species.

"**UNIT READY!"**

Finally, the forces seem to have been fully assembled to reinforce the strike army. With a command, Foreman 371 orders the newly assembled team to enter the wormhole. At the same time, he orders another team to be on stand-by for the next phase of attack.

"**FOREMAN, THE REMNANTS OF THE ENEMY STRIKE ARMY IS STILL JUST A FEW DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE ION STORM PERIMETER OF OUR BASE DEFENCES! THE ENEMY HAS REPELLED OFF WAVES OF OUR SCOUTS DESPITE THEIR SMALL NUMBERS, ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ADVANCING FOR A LONG TIME AND IS MOST LIKELY AWAITING FOR REINFORCEMENTS!"**

After listening to the Mothership's analysis, Foreman 371 decides to respond to this threat quickly, **"We must not let them have a chance to reinforce themselves; send in 3 Devastators and 8 Stormriders to eliminate the enemy strike army! Destroy their reinforcements as well!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED..."**

* * *

(Back at Zeratul's strike army...)

The small number of Zeratul's army is taking a breather after eliminating another one of the waves of Scrin. Based on Zeratul's observation, the previous waves of Scrin assault sent are very small in strength and numbers, indicating that they are most likely to be scouting forces rather than an actual army sent in to wipe them out.

'_If those waves of Scrin are just scouts, then the enemy must have known that our current numbers would be vulnerable to an all-out attack; but why do they just keep sending in more scouts instead?' _while Zeratul is still pondering about what the enemy is up to, a High Templar reports,

"_Prelate, the reinforcements have arrived!"_

Zeratul turns around and sees an additional army of 12 Zealots, 8 Stalkers, 8 Sentries, 4 Immortals and 2 Observers, led by a single High Templar, approaching their current location.

"_En taro Tassadar, Prelate Zeratul; I, High Templar Sharass, has come to assist you! It is an honour to serve under you!" _the leading High Templar reports.

"_En taro Tassadar, High Templar Sharass; it is my honour too! Now let us join forces and resume our march to the enemy base! If my speculation is correct, it should be located at the site where that alien tower is located; now let's move on!"_

"_As you wish, prelate!"_

However, before the newly reinforced army can resume their march, they have been alerted of more enemy presence by the Observers.

"_We have enemy aircrafts approaching at high speed!" _one of the Zealots warns.

Soon enough, 8 Stormriders fly in and start strafing at Zeratul's army, taking out 2 Sentries in the process.

"_All Sentries and Stalkers; return fire!" _Zeratul barks out, ordering the Sentries and Stalkers to fire back at the Stormriders, which they have them outnumbered. Hence Zeratul feels that it is wiser to take on the offensive this time and shoot down all these Scrin fighters down before they can cost the lives of more warriors.

As if they have understood Zeratul's intent, the Stalkers and Sentries in the army proceed to shoot back at the Scrin fighters with their anti-air weapons, succeeding in shooting 2 down while driving the rest away. Feeling safer with the retreat of the Stormriders, the Protoss strike army marches on.

Unknown to them, the danger is still not yet over...

Suddenly, without warning, plasma discs start to rain upon the Protoss strike army, like a torrential rain of destruction. Caught by surprise, many of the Zealots and Sentries are instantly wiped out by the sudden barrage of plasma discs. Before the army can react, another volley arrives, wiping out more Zealots, Sentries and even some Stalkers. Even the Immortals, with their hardened shields depleted by the successive rounds of plasma disc fire, are starting to take in some serious damages.

"_What's going... ARRRGGGHHH... ..."_

Unfortunately, High Templar Sharass is among one of the new batch of casualties caused by the rain of plasma disc assault, as his physical form dissipates into a wisp of blue flames.

Knowing that he has no time to mourn for the losses, Zeratul immediately orders the remaining Sentries to put up Guardian Shields, while he starts to scan the area around for the source of the plasma discs.

'_Those discs; they don't seem to be firing off from a lateral position, but more like they are raining down upon us... then that means they come from... UP?'_

Zeratul looks up in the sky and soon enough, he spots 3 unidentified objects high up in the air. The 3 objects appear to be located very far away from their current location, but they seem to be huge, about the size of their Void Rays. Like other Scrin units, they are silver and purple in colouration, and they are shaped like lobsters with a huge round 'mouth' in the front like a sort of cannon.

From the shape of the 3 objects, Zeratul realises that he has seen these shapes from somewhere before...

* * *

_(Flashback... a few months ago under the ice of Braxis...)_

_Using his warp blade as a light source, Zeratul studies the hieroglyphics of some unidentified creatures carved on the wall surface of the ruins. Among the hieroglyphics, some of them appear to be some form of massive, flying lobster-shaped creatures that seem to be spraying something towards the ground..._

* * *

(Flashback ends... back in Zeratul's current position...)

"_Scrin warships! Brothers; those warships are the ones that are firing the energy discs! All Stalkers; blink in and take out those ships before they can take out more of us!" _Zeratul informs his army.

Hearing the dark prelate's orders, the remaining Stalkers try to close in towards the Scrin warships within their firing range. However, the Devastators are already too far away from them to begin with, and before the Stalkers can begin to shoot, the Devastators launch another volley of plasma discs, taking out even more Protoss warriors.

"_They're too far away!" _one of the Stalkers exclaims.

"_We have to get in a little closer and blink in!" _another one comments.

Just as the Stalkers are trying to close in and take a shot at the Devastators before those warships destroy the rest of the army, the Stalkers themselves suddenly come under fire by something else in the sky...

"_The enemy fighters are back!"_ one of the Stalkers shouts out, realising that the Stormriders which they have just repelled off moments ago have returned with a vengeance. Oddly, all signs of damages from the previous battle on these Stormriders are gone, as if they are new in this battle. The only tell-tale signs that these Stormriders are the same ones just encountered are their numbers and the same matching psionic imprints felt by the Stalkers as they engage them.

The returning Stormriders make a strafing round on the pack of Stalkers, taking one out of commission. The lead Stalker wishes to reengage the Stormriders, but quickly realises that this would distract them from taking out the warships, which are currently posing an even greater threat to their comrades.

"_Blink towards those warships! We have to ignore those fighters for a while!" _the lead Stalker commands.

Responding to the lead Stalker's command, the remaining standing Stalkers quickly channel their powers in the Void and teleport to a short distance closer towards the Devastators, just right within the firing range of their phase disruptor cannons.

"_FIRE!"_

Beams of particle disruptor are launched into the air towards the Devastator warships, in the hope of shooting down the mighty vessels before they wipe out the entire strike army. Unfortunately for the Protoss, instead of seeing pieces of metal chipped off from the Devastators' hull and smoke belching out from the wounded ships, blue flares are seen when the phase disruptor beams strike the exterior of the Scrin warships. The Protoss themselves have witnessed such sights too many times when they are in war and they immediately know what has happened; these ships are shielded!

'_The enemy ships are shielded?' _Zeratul realises to his horror, _'Does the Scrin possesses shield technology just as we do? Still, I wonder why we have never observed shields on their other lighter units? Does that mean that the Scrin is only able to create shield generators for larger weapons and has yet to develop portable versions for their foot soldiers just like us? Perhaps their shield technology is a little different from ours? Also, judging by the intensity of the energy radiated by their shields, their shields don't seem to be very strong... if we can resume our fire, we can quickly take out their shields and take out those ships!'_

"_Do not falter, my warriors! The enemy ships may be shielded but their shields are weak! Just maintain fire onto those ships and you can take them out quickly! High Templars; I want you 2 to support the Stalkers by creating a psionic storm against the enemy aircrafts, including those 3 ships, but remember to avoid our Stalkers!"_ Zeratul quickly orders after realising that the enemy shields are not very strong and they still have a chance to take out the enemy airforce.

"_Understood!"_ the 2 remaining High Templar reply, as they begin to channel their psionic powers through their bodies. Then, the psionic energies are released in the form of a vicious psionic storm, in which the psionic energies are converted into a form of high-powered electrical storm, zapping everything caught within its area of effect.

The Devastators have been quickly caught under the effect of the psionic storm, so are a few of the Stormriders. The Stormriders quickly react to the sudden appearance of the psionic storm by quickly flying out of the blast; but the Devastators are too slow to move to a safety zone. Immediately, their shields are fully depleted and green smoke begins to belch out of the warships, signifying that they have taken in substantial damages.

However, the Devastators are not going to be defenceless against the Protoss counter-attacks. After the psionic storm has finally dissipated, the Devastators, significantly damaged but not yet destroyed, quickly retaliate by spraying their volleys of plasma discs right at the High Templar and Stalkers. As a result, both High Templar vanish into blue flames while most Stalkers fall onto the ground remaining ones are quickly picked off by the Stormriders, leaving all of them as piles of scrap metal except for 2 of them.

Zeratul notices that the 2 surviving Stalkers are standing very close to the Devastators; so close that they are almost underneath them. They have also been taking in the least amount of damage, as the plasma discs often overshoot them when the Devastators launch their attacks. That is when Zeratul realises a weakness of these enemy warships, _'I see... the enemy ships have a limited firing arc of their weapons! They have no defence to whatever that is standing right underneath them!'_

"_Stalkers; take cover under the enemy ships and fire straight up from below! The enemy ships can't hit you there!"_ Zeratul informs the 2 remaining Stalkers.

Receiving the dark prelate's hint, the Stalkers quickly scurry directly underneath one of the Devastators and start to pepper the warship with their phase disruptors. The attacked Devastator tries to shoot back, only for the volley of plasma discs to overshoot the Stalkers; just as what Zeratul has expected.

After several more rounds of phase disruptor, the attacked Devastator finally blows up; split into 2 parts as its heavily compromised hull is unable to hold the ship intact. With the destruction of one of the Devastators, the Protoss strike army cheers as they witness the doomed warship plummeting down to the surface.

However, the good news does not last long, as one of the remaining Stalkers has been taken out by the vengeful Stormriders just after the destruction of a Devastator. At the same time, Zeratul suddenly receives an incoming message from Furon back in their base,

"_Prelate; BASE IS UNDER ATTACK! The enemy has somehow opened a wormhole that brings their troops to the less defended rear of our base! I need you to abort the task of scouting the enemy main base and return back here immediately!"_

Zeratul accesses the situation and realises that he has no choice but to retreat; although he has learnt how to counter and strike the enemy warships, there is only one Stalker left to fight off enemy aircrafts, which is too few considering that there are 6 more enemy fighters and 2 more ships remaining; there are only 2 Sentries remaining and not only are they too weakly armed and protected to combat the Scrin aircrafts, they have almost run out of energy reserves and their Guardian Shields have been proven to be quite ineffective in shielding the high-powered energy discs of the Scrin ships; the remaining Zealots and Immortals, not even equipped with anti-air weaponry, are totally out of the question.

"_Brothers; our base has been attacked by our enemies! We have no choice but to fall back to the base right now! I want 2 Observers to resume the exploration for the Scrin base; rest of you, FALL BACK!"_ Zeratul commands.

After hearing Zeratul's orders, the few remaining soldiers of the Protoss strike army begin their dash back to their base. Only 2 Observers have been ordered to resume the locating of the Scrin forward base as their mini-cloaking field can provide near permanent cloaking, hiding and protecting the small aerial surveillance drones while they perform their tasks.

* * *

(Back at rear of Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base...)

The fierce battle for control of the rear end of the Protoss base resumes as both sides, Scrin and Protoss, exchange fire with each other. On the Protoss side, Scouts, Phoenixes, Interceptors, Stalkers and Photon Cannons fire off their energy weapons while being led by the Carrier _Tempest of Raszagal_. On the Scrin side, Shock Troopers, Seekers and Devourers fire off their own energy-based weapons, while the Mastermind guides them.

As the battle continues, the Protoss appears to have the edge since they have the high ground advantage, where the Photon Cannons are able to shoot at the Scrin forces from up above the plateau, while the Scrin are unable to get a clear visual lock to counter-attack those turrets. What is more, Protoss defenders are starting to get reinforced as Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries, Immortals and High Templar begin to join in the battle, transported to the area thanks to several Warp Prisms.

However, the battle is about to enter a turning point as the Scrin forces are also getting reinforced. From within the still-opened wormhole, more Seekers and Devourers arrive, alongside with 2 tall, towering 3-legged monstrosities armed with 3 wavering tentacles.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

Furon witnesses the arrival of 2 large towering Scrin machines. These machines are big and almost as tall as the legendary Colossus war machines. Just then, Furon recalls that he has seen these shapes before in the memories given by Zeratul...

* * *

_(Flashback... a few months ago in Braxis...)_

_Zeratul is studying the hieroglyphic images of the many strange creatures seen dancing around a crystalline-looking grass field. Among the many shapes and sizes of the portrayed creatures, a few of them show large-sized towering stalks of 3-legged, 3-armed monsters..."_

* * *

(Flashback ends... back inside the Nexus...)

'_Those 3-legged creatures... are they the Scrin ultimate weapons?'_

While Furon ponders about the nature of the 3-legged Scrin war machines, he continues to stare down at the Khaydarin crystal terminal of the Nexus, resuming his observation of the battle. Hopefully, he will learn more about how those towering Scrin fight, so that he will learn how to counter them in the future.

He is unaware on how dangerous those tripods are...

* * *

(Back at the battle at rear of Protoss base...)

Shortly after their arrival, the pair of Annihilator Tripods begin their path of destruction. Proton beams sweep across the battlefield, easily cutting Stalkers into pieces. The Protoss ground reinforcements fare no better, as they quickly fall victim to the triple tentacle-fired proton beams as well.

The Zealots try to close in and surround the tripods from multiple sides, a tactic commonly employed to defeat larger and heavier enemies such as Zerg Ultralisks. However, against the Scrin Annihilators, the tactic does not work well as the tripods are capable of shooting at targets from up to 3 directions thanks to their 3 flexible tentacles mounted at the roof of their 'heads'. Also, even if the Zealots manage to reach up close within the striking distance of their psi blades, they will receive sudden bolts of EMP shockwaves released by the tripods, instantly shutting their protective plasma shields down. What is more, the Protoss warriors are frustrated to find out that most of their attacks against the Scrin tripods are nullified by the tripods' own shields.

Spearheaded by the pair of tripods, the Scrin attacking strike force begins to push back the Protoss ground defenders, closing in towards the plateau.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

Furon is stares in awe as he witnesses the destruction caused by the Scrin tripods. Judging by their sizes, Furon has expected that these tripods are the heavy assault weapons of their enemies, but he did not expect them to be shielded and have the ability to shut down the shields of his warriors.

However, amidst the chaotic battle, Furon does notice that the alien tripods are only shooting at the ground soldiers, not responding to the greater number of his aircrafts which should have posed a greater threat to the aliens.

'_Hmm... does that mean that these tripods are incapable to fighting off aerial threats... so that's their weakness!'_

Immediately, Furon makes an order in an attempt to end the Scrin tripod threat, _"This is Executor Furon calling to Tempest of Raszagal; concentrate all your Interceptors against the enemy tripods! Destroy them before more arrives!"_

* * *

(Back at the battle at rear of Protoss base...)

The Carrier _Tempest of Raszagal _begins to direct all its 8 Interceptors to focus fire against one of the Annihilators. As the Interceptors attack the tripod, blue flares can be seen as the tripod's forcefield shield works to protect the towering war machine from harm. However, unlike the shields employed by the Protoss, the Scrin's shields are not advanced and powerful enough to shield the tripod from a Carrier all-out assault. In just a few volleys by the Interceptors, the forcefield shield of the tripod is fully depleted, causing the 3-legged monster to start receiving damages from the Protoss attacks.

Still, despite the loss of its shield, the wounded tripod continues to fight with ferocity, killing more Zealots and scrapping more Stalkers. It takes another several more volleys of Interceptor fire, coupled with Photon Cannon barrage and phase disruptor cannons by Immortals, does the mighty Annihilator finally collapses, giving out a dying roar as its legs give way to the immense weight of the falling hulk of metal.

With the destruction of one of the Annihilators, the morale of the Protoss defenders gets boosted as they learn that even one of the mightiest Scrin weapon that they have ever witnessed can still be fallen. With renewed determination, the defenders press on against the Scrin invaders, which are still receiving reinforcements from the wormhole.

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

"**UNIT LOST!"**

Foreman 371 is frustrated to find out that one of the Annihilators that he had sent to aid in the assault has fallen; it seems that the enemy has found out the tripods' weakness against aerial threat, something that he hopes that the enemy will not notice so that he can pull off a bluff that will force the enemy to retreat. Nevertheless, he still has one operational tripod left, which will be sufficient for the main purpose of his next tactical manoeuvre.

"**Mothership, is the wormhole still opened?"** the foreman asks.

"**AFFIRMATIVE, FOREMAN! THE WORMHOLE IS STILL ACTIVE; HOWEVER, ENERGY HOLDING THE WORMHOLE IS DIMINISHING AND IT WILL CLOSE UP ANY MOMENT SOON!"**

"**What about the enemy base? Has the last tripod makes any visual on the top of the plateau?"**

"**AFFIRMATIVE! ENEMY BASE HAS BEEN SPOTTED! WE HAVE VISUALS OF THE ENEMY TURRETS AND ENEMY STRUCTURES!"**

"**Excellent!" **the foreman smirks as this is why he has sent in the tripods; he needs their height to help his forces make a visual contact of the enemy base structures so that he can initiate the next phase of his attack.

The foreman then starts to think about how he can make use of the wormhole before it fully closes, and quickly makes his decision, **"Send in some Corrupters into the wormhole to reinforce our strike force before the wormhole closes! Also, inform the Mastermind unit to teleport the 2****nd**** strike army right into the enemy base now!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED..."**

* * *

(Back at the rear of Protoss base...)

The wormhole that brings the Scrin units into the rear of the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base has begun to shrink. Before it fully closes, however, one last wave of Scrin reinforcements has arrived and entered the battlefield. These newly arrived Scrin are the size of Immortals, shaped like multi-legged walking horizontal round-bottom flasks covered with purple metal. The head of the Scrin is pointed, with jaws opening to show 3 or more mandibles. It walks with about 8-10 short insect-like legs. In the 'belly' of the Scrin, there seems to be some kind of green liquid stored inside.

The Protoss defenders expect the newly arrived Corrupters to start joining the assault like the rest of the Scrin army. The Corrupters do take some actions; but not to the expectation of the Protoss. The Scrin walking flask-shaped walkers start to release some form of a green liquid. However, instead of spraying at the Protoss warriors, they are spraying onto their own comrades. To the surprise of the Protoss defenders, the sprayed Scrin units begin to regenerate their wounds, as if the sprayed green liquid is healing them.

Realising that the Corrupters are healing the Scrin army, some of the Protoss defenders try to destroy the walking flasks to prevent the Scrin army from recovering and overwhelming them. However, the Corrupters quickly show that they are not harmless, by dousing and eliminating Zealots with their greenish spray.

Just then, to the shock of the Protoss forces, the once fallen Scrin tripod suddenly stands up again, with previous battle damages fully repaired and forcefield shield regenerated. The fully recovered Annihilator quickly wastes no time in resuming its role of annihilation, destroying and clearing out more Zealots and Stalkers in its path.

At the same time, the Mastermind finally makes a move; by channelling its own psionic energy and using these energies to teleport another army of Scrin, right up above the plateau inside the Protoss base. Appearing out from nowhere, the teleported Scrin army of Disintegrators, Ravagers, Gun Walkers, Seekers, Devourer Tanks, Corrupters and Annihilator Tripods start to wreak havoc of the Photon Cannon turrets. Some of the surviving Shock Troopers at the bottom of the plateau join the 2nd Scrin army by blinking right across the plateau.

With the high ground advantage removed, the Protoss defenders find themselves fighting a losing battle. With most of the ground troops wiped out, the Shock Troopers, Gun Walkers and Seekers start to concentrate against the Protoss aerial defenders. The Mastermind itself also joins in to shoot at the Protoss aircrafts by spraying the sky with its plasma cutter beams. Many Interceptors, Phoenixes and Scouts begin to crash as the heavy concentration of Scrin anti-air fire shoots down many Protoss aircrafts.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

Furon is left shock, and speechless.

Just a minutes ago, his forces are still comfortable in holding off the Scrin assault. The next minute later, the tide of war has been turned when his forces have lost its high ground advantage. Currently, almost all of the defending Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries and Photon Cannon have been lost. More than 90% of both Scout Flight Aquila and Phoenix Flight Oryon have been shot down; while the Carrier _Tempest of Raszagal _has been heavily damaged and close to crashing down.

Furon has observed some key factors that have caused the tables to be turned:

First of all, the sudden appearance of a 2nd Scrin army right into the plateau. Before that occurs, Fruon has felt a sudden surge of psionic energies originating from the lone psionic Scrin. The best guess that Furon can come up with is that while the Scrin tripods use their height to get a visual lock on the top of the plateau itself, the psionic Scrin must have used some kind of ability similar to a Protoss Mothership's Mass Recall to teleport troops right into their base. With forces above the plateau, the Scrin also has the high ground too.

Secondly, the newly arrived Scrin healing walkers that spray some kind of green liquid to heal their allies while damaging the enemies. Based on the colour and the psionic signatures emitted from the liquid, Furon suspects the liquid to be Ichor. According to Zeratul's battle report earlier, the Scrin seems to have the ability to regenerate at a much faster rate if exposed to Ichor radiation. This may explain why the green liquid is healing the Scrin units, while damaging and killing off his own. Not only the liquid Ichor has been healing other Scrin and making them more difficult to kill, it has also been killing his Zealots by dousing lethal concentration of Ichor that is too much for even a highly Khala-trained Protoss to resist. The liquid Ichor has also turned out to be effective against structural armour too, as many Photon Cannon turret have their armour been quickly corroded and eaten away by the greenish liquid of death.

The third factor is the sudden revival of the fallen tripod. There has been no prior warnings to what had happened, before the once-thought neutralised tripod suddenly stood up again and lay waste to even more of his ground defenders. Does that mean that these tripods are indestructible?

The last factor is that due to the combination of all the above 3 factors, the Scrin army had managed to destroy most of the ground defenders, allowing the Scrin anti-air units to concentrate against his aircrafts, which are the most vital part of the defence. Without the support from the ground, the fighters and _Tempest of Raszagal _were having a difficult time to fend off so many anti-air units.

Right now, the enemy has breached through the rear defences and are now inside the base. It seems that it will take some time for Zeratul and the strike army to return back to the base. Without further alternatives, Furon commands the rest of the fleet, including the Mothership _Aiuron _to participate in the defence of the forward base.

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

Foreman 371 is enjoying the sight of the enemy forces panicking when the once fallen tripod suddenly stood up again and resumed annihilating the enemies. He was glad that he had sent in an Assimilator to follow the Corrupters through the wormhole before it fully closes. It was the lone Assimilator that had managed to slip through the frontlines and reactivate the tripod husk.

Besides the lone Assimilator, the foreman had also sent an Explorer to go through the closing wormhole and let it slip through the frontlines as well. The Explorer had managed to find an open area with an Ichor field nearby. There, it had deployed into an Outpost and warped in a Refinery and several Gravity Stabilisers. Foreman 371 had suspected that with the enemy ground forces nearly annihilated, the enemy commander would most likely sent their ships to defend the base as an act of desperation. Even though he had sent a sizeable army of Shock Troopers, Gun Walkers and Seekers, the foreman feared that this might not be enough. The best way to take out a fleet is by another fleet, which is what the foreman is planning to warp-in with using the newly established outpost.

Then, as Foreman 371 had suspected, the enemy fleet had been sighted by his forces to be approaching the enemy base's rear. His anti-air units had just taken out an enemy carrier, and he had anticipated that the rest of the enemy carriers would be closing in too. Unfortunately, the aircraft-constructing outpost that had been newly established had only managed to summon in some Stormriders, but not the Devastators or the Planetary Assault Carriers (PACs). Now the foreman can only hope that his Mastermind unit and the anti-air uints can hold off the small amount of enemy fleet long enough before he can amass the required number of ships to eliminate the enemy forces in one swoop.

* * *

(Back inside the Nexus...)

"_Executor; Prelate Zeratul and his strike team have returned! The prelate had warned us that there are enemy ships approaching our base!"_ a Zealot initiate informs Furon.

Furon is getting frustrated that he needs to concentrate on defending the base from enemy ships as well. Just a few moments ago, _Tempest of Raszagal _had been blown out from the sky by enemy anti-air fire. In order to preserve the base, he has to repel off the enemy assault at the rear. Without sufficient numbers of ground troops, he has to rely on the fleet itself to fight off the enemy forces, while he was trying to warp-in reinforcements through the Warp Gates and Stargates.

Furon is also aware of how the dangerous the enemy ships are. According to Zeratul's reports, the enemy ships launch batteries of energy discs from a very long distance, playing the role of aerial artilleries. They are shielded and heavily armoured, but they have a blindspot in their field of fire in the way that they are unable to shoot back at targets standing directly below them. Besides, Furon has also noticed that the enemy ships do not seem to be armed with any other weapons other than their main cannons. From the observed footage of how the enemy warships fire their weapons, Furon believed that there is a high chance that the enemy warships are unable to shoot at aerial targets too. This may explain why the warships are escorted by enemy air-superiority fighters. With that in mind, Furon decides to make his move against the enemy ships,

"_Scout Flight Akirass; you are to engage the enemy aircrafts! Wipe out the enemy warships and their escorts immediately!"_

* * *

(At the Scrin Devastators...)

The pair of Devastator warships, which had been following Zeratul's army marching back to their base, are now closing near the Protoss base into firing range. Circling around the Devastators are 8 Stormriders, in which 2 had been recently joined in to escort the warships.

Just then, about 8 Scouts have been sighted flying towards the Devastator warships, planning to destroy the aerial artilleries with their anti-matter missiles. Of course, the escorting Stormriders have others in mind. In a matter of seconds, the Stormrider escorts quickly break off and engage the Scouts.

With the harassing Stormriders, Scout Flight Akirass has no other options but to engage the Scrin fighters first. Although slower and less manoeuvrable in air than Stormriders, the Scouts make up their weakness in speed and agility with their firepower and protection. Anti-matter missiles work wonders in tracking down the faster Scrin fighters and easily blast them out from the skies, while the Scouts' more superior armour and plasma shields protect the Scouts well from disruptor cannons.

Despite the loss of the Stormrider escorts in the dogfight, the Devastators press on and finally reach firing range. Without warning, the pair of warships let loose their volleys of plasma discs, raining destruction upon the Protoss base defence turrets. Seconds after the first volley, the Devastators launch off another volley... and another volley, destroying Photon Cannon turrets in just a few seconds of plasma disc barrage. The firing range is too far away for the Photon Cannons to fire back, allowing the Devastators to fire at will without fear of the Protoss turrets firing back.

After the last Stormrider has been shot down, Scout Flight Akirass quickly return their focus onto the Scrin Devastator warships. Already, the Scrin warships have started shooting at the base defences, laying waste of several Photon Cannon turrets. Trying to prevent further destructions, the Scouts fly in and fire their anti-matter missiles at the giant lobster-shaped ships. In the initial barrages, the missiles are shielded off by the Devastators' forcefield generators. However, after just a few more barrages of missiles, the shields of the Devastators are quickly depleted; and the Scrin ships immediately sustain damages to their hull. Despite being seriously damaged, the Devastators maintain their fire onto the base defences, wiping out more turrets and several Pylons before the 2 aerial artilleries are finally blown off from the sky.

* * *

(Back at the rear of the Protoss base...)

Zeratul and his strike force have finally arrived back to reinforce the base's defence. However, with the addition of only a handful of Zealots and Stalkers besides Zeratul himself, there is not much help available in this reinforcement. On their way of retreat back to base, many of the more fragile or slower units of the strike team, including Sentries, High Templar and Immortals, have been taken out by the Scrin Devastators.

As Zeratul approaches the battle, he can make out the towering outline of the Annihilator Tripods, and immediately recognise the shape from his memories in one of the Ihan crystals. However, what concerns Zeratul is not the presence of the tripods, but the presence of something that is releasing a powerful psionic influence in the area. The magnitude of the psionic influence feels powerful, but it is not of anything that Zeratul is familiar with. Although each and every major race in this sector, regardless of Terrans, Protoss or Zergs, are all capable bearing powerful psionic energy reserves, the psionic energy emitted out from each race has their own unique signature. Some beings are able to distinguish races just by feeling the psionic energy signature alone, and Zeratul is one of such individuals. However, Zeratul is unable to recognise who or what is releasing these enegies.

While Zeratul is still deep in thoughts, he barely avoids a stray plasma disc, which grazes his plasma shield. Snapping back to reality, Zeratul rushes in and swiftly chops a Shock Trooper in half with his warp blade. The next moment, he dashes towards a Corrupter, hopping on top of it and stabbing its 'head' several times before jumping off and leaving it to 'die' with green fluids spurting out from its wounds.

Just then, a huge shadow looms across the battlefield. As the combatants all look up, the Protoss side all cheer in relief with the arrival of _Aiuron _and its escorting Void Rays and Carriers. With a loud hum, the Protoss Mothership projects a wide area cloaking field, cloaking all friendly units in the field. However, the tactic does not seem to work well, as the Scrin Seekers resume their fire against the Protoss warriors. At the same time, other Scrin anti-air units begin to shoot at _Aiuron_ itself, intending to bring down the massive Mothership. In response, the escorting Void Rays and Carriers begin to engage as well, with Void Rays activating their prismatic beams while Carriers releasing their Interceptors. _Aiuron _also starts to defend itself by raining purification beams across the battlefield, wiping out large numbers of Scrin at a time.

Suddenly, without warning, more Scrin units, including Shock Troopers, Ravagers, Seekers, Gun Walkers, Devourers, Corrupters and tripods, appear right into the rear of the base again, as if they have been teleported into the battlefield. The reinforced Scrin army starts to attack with even greater ferocity, taking out more brave Protoss warriors in the battlefield. All the Photon Cannon turrets have been taken out by the Scrin tripods, and many ships beginning to take in damages.

Zeratul is baffled on how the Scrin receives a sudden influx of reinforcement. He can only recall that there is a sudden surge of the unknown psionic energy signature, before the Scrin reinforcements warp-in. Something is teleporting troops into this area, and it must be stopped! Although Zeratul is unable to identify who is emitting those psionic energy, he is able to trace its source. As Zeratul and his warriors slash through the Scrin lines, heading towards the source of the energy, he finally finds his suspect.

Among the protective encirclement of Scrin heavy infantries, there is a Scrin infantry unit with a distinct appearance that looks completely different from the rest of the Scrin army. This unique Scrin has a tall tear-drop shaped crest with 2 pairs of tentacles and 4 long thin insectoid legs. A round, single purple optic is seen at the front of its crest. Zeratul can feel a very powerful psionic field emitted around that Scrin unit, roughly the equivalent of an elite Templar caste.

'_That must be the enemy field commander; and probably that is the unit that is responsible for bringing in reinforcements!'_ Zeratul concludes.

Zeratul would want to quickly rush in and assassinate the enemy commander unit, but he knows that it would be impossible to break through the thick lines of Scrin units that have been encircling around his chief target. There are also Seekers present around that Scrin, meaning that he would be easily exposed if he tries to sneak in using his personal cloaking field. If he wants to finish off that Scrin, he would need some extra support.

One of the Carriers escorting _Aiuron _seems to respond to Zeratul's needs, as it begins to direct all its Interceptors against the lone Mastermind. However, the Mastermind would prove itself to be a formidable combatant too, as it unleashes its powerful quick-firing plasma cutter that quickly shoots down each and every Interceptors that try to harass it.

After witnessing the Mastermind's offensive capabilities as it shoots down the Interceptor drones with its plasma cutter, Zeratul has analysed that the likely Scrin field commander appears to have armed itself with some kind of a quick-firing energy-based weapon which so far proves to be effective against lightly armoured targets, regardless the target is aerial or on ground. It seems that taking on that Scrin is going to be more difficult than Zeratul has thought.

"_The merging is complete!"_

A powerful psionic signature is generated at the Protoss side. Zeratul turns back and gets a mixed feeling of relief and sorrow to see that one Archon has been successfully merged in the midst of the battle. He is relieved as Archons are well-known for their vast psionic powers and their battle prowess have been known to turn tides of battle; sorrow is due to the reason that 2 High Templar had sacrificed themselves to create the Archon. The newly-merged Archon quickly rushes into the battle as it unleashes bolts of raw psionic shockwaves onto the enemy formations, zapping many Scrin heavy infantries out of action.

In witnessing the power of the Archon, some of the Scrin Devourer Tanks turn their directions towards the huge manifestation of pure rage and try to end its existence with their proton beams. The attempt proves to be in vain, however, as the high-powered plasma shield of the Archon easily absorbs even the proton beams of the Devourer Tanks.

"_Obliterate!"_

With a wave of its hand, the Archon unleashes another wave of psionic shockwave, short circuiting and killing more Scrin heavy infantries. One of the more heavily damaged Devourer also falls hard to the ground as its levitation device gets short circuited, disabled and out of the battle. The Archon wreaks havoc upon the Scrin lines unstopped.

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

Foreman 371 has noticed the enemy giant blue ball of energy been annihilating his troops with its raw power. The energy readings emitted from that thing has been tremendous, hence the foreman is not surprised that even the Devourers are no match against its power. Perhaps he should get one of the tripods to get rid of that thing before it causes more casualties.

On a closer look, however, Foreman 371 notices that the massive ball of energy has a core, a body of what looks like the rest of the second more advanced indigenous species they are fighting against now but with the radiance of the bright blue energy that the thing is emitting. The energy reading of that core has shown that it is highly fragile, but protected with a very powerful energy shield that is so much more powerful than those of the ones generated by their sides' forcefield generators. This means that if this thing is to be destroyed, the foreman's forces will have to get rid of its shield first. This should be easy if he can just get one of the tripod close enough to unleash its EMP shockwave.

On a second thought, the foreman suddenly thinks up of something; if that thing has a core that has been heavily protected, then this means that it must have a physical body. If this is the case, then wouldn't it be better to take control of it and use it to wipe out the enemies instead?

With this in mind, Foreman 371 immediately gives his orders to the Mastermind on the field...

* * *

(Back at the battle at the rear of Protoss base...)

After receiving the latest order from Foreman 371, the Scrin Mastermind quickly turns its attention to the Archon on the field, which is still devastating the smaller Scrins in the field. The lone

Mastermind starts to skip towards the Archon, an action that has not gone unnoticed to Zeratul. With the Archon's attention turning towards other Scrin forces, the Mastermind manages to sneak at a striking distance away from the Archon, when it uses its 2 pairs of thread-like tentacles to fling a tiny object towards the mass of psionic energy. A few seconds later, Zeratul feels another surge of psionic energy emitted from the Mastermind, as if it has been up to something. Suddenly, shortly after the surge of psionic energy, the Archon halts its attack, to the confusion of the Protoss defenders, including Zeratul. Then, to their shock, the Archon turns around and fires a bolt of psionic shockwave at a group of Zealots, blasting them off the ground and draining off their plasma shield. The Archon strikes again and again at the Zealots, taking them out one by one.

Zeratul is shocked to witness the Archon turning against its kin, something that has never been witnessed before except during times of civil war when a Protoss tribe point its blade at another Protoss tribe; or when a Dark Archon uses its Mind Control abilities onto an enemy Archon against its enemies, which has happened during the Brood War when Raszagal's loyalists of both Khalai and Nerazim warriors clashed against the rebels of elite Khalai Templar caste led by Aldaris. During that conflict, the loyalists had gained the support of the shadowy Dark Archons, which used their vast powers of the Void to turn the tides of battle against the rebels. Among these acts included the use of Mind Control abilities to turn Archons on the rebel side to switch side, causing the rebels to lose one of their most powerful weapons. Eventually, with the aid of the Dark Archons, the loyalists crushed the rebellion swiftly.

To confirm his suspicion, Zeratul empties his mind and starts to focus, searching for any signs of psionic link between the 'rogue' Archon and the Scrin field commander. Then, to his confirmation, Zeratul does detect a mental link between the two; a confirmation that the Archon had been mind controlled.

'_So that Scrin has mind control abilities! Judging by the strength of the metal link between the controlled Archon and that Scrin, it seems that the control of the Archon's movements is heavily dependent by the thoughts of the Scrin. If I can kill off that Scrin, I may have a chance to bring that Archon back to its senses! But still, I have to slip through its guard without letting other Scrin to detect my presence...'_

As Zeratul is still wondering how to assassinate the Scrin Mastermind, he notices that the mind controlled Archon is beginning to take more hits from the Protoss defenders, who had came up with the revelation that the Archon is no longer on their side.

'_The Archon's shield will not be able to hold off the assault any longer; the loss of the Archon may be inevitable, but its destruction is not the permanent solution to our current problem! That Scrin field commander may just simply use its Mind Control ability on another one of our elite warriors! If that goes on, our forces will end up fighting against each other! Is there any way I can slip in and assassinate the enemy leader without being detected?'_ Zeratul wonders as he scans across the battlefield, hoping to find any loop holes in the Scrin formation guarding the Mastermind.

Just then, Zeratul witnesses many Scrin Shock Troopers being blasted out of oblivion by rain of purifier beams streaming from _Aiuron_ above. Looking up at the massive Mothership, Zeratul finally thinks up of a solution.

"_This is Zeratul calling to Aiuron crew; activate a Vortex around the Scrin units that are surrounding the enemy leader!"_

"_It will be done, prelate!"_

Immediately after receiving the dark prelate's order, the Mothership immediately begins to channel its incredible amount of psionic energy to create a gravity vortex that sucks in a large number of Scrin infantries and war machines into a temporary prison of time-space. Only the Mastermind itself and a few other Scrin units manage to scurry out of the way in time to avoid similar fate as the rest of the Scrin strike army.

'_Hmm... only one of these light detecting hover tanks remaining... the rest should be non-detectors...it would be just another few more seconds before the effect of the Vortex wears off; I must finish this off quick!'_ Zeratul accesses the situation, when the Vortex generated by _Aiuron_ manages to trap away more than ¾ of the entire Scrin strike army.

With undisputed determination, Zeratul makes sure that his personal cloaking field is functional, before charging towards the lone Mastermind, which is still struggling to hold onto its ground due to the suction effect of the Vortex. Channelling the power of the Void, Zeratul casts a Void Prison onto the only remaining Seeker, immobilising and blinding the only Scrin weapon capable of exposing his location. With the Seeker out of the way, nothing is going to help the Mastermind to detect the presence of the dark prelate.

On seeing that the Seeker is not responding to its call, the Mastermind starts to panic, and gets into a state of high alert as if it has an intuition that something bad is about to happen. Just then, the Mastermind feels a broken mental link; the mind controlled Archon has finally fallen to a hail of enemy fire. With the powerful weapon gone, the Mastermind begins to search for a new prey to plant its Manipulator Device with.

Zeratul has also felt the defeat of the Archon; and he knows that it means he is running out of time. Decided to act quickly, Zeratul channels his Void powers again, and instantly blinks right in front of the Mastermind. Before the Scrin commando realises what has happened, Zeratul has it beheaded with a horizontal slash of his warp blade. Bellowing out with a dying screech, the headless body of the Mastermind collapses with its 4 legs twitching like a dying insect, while its severed head lies a few feet away from its body.

Shortly after the demise of the Mastermind, Zeratul feels a sense of relief. Unfortunately, the relief does not last long, when the Scrin army previously trapped in the Vortex has finally been released out of their temporary prison once its effect has run out. In just a short matter of time, Zeratul and his fellow Protoss defenders find themselves surrounded by the large Scrin army. Although without the leadership of a Mastermind, the number of Scrin forces, which includes squads of heavy infantries and large numbers of armoured units and tripods, is still intimidating.

'_May Adun watches us all...'_ Zeratul prays mentally, as he finds himself facing against a near impossible task of fighting off an overwhelming number of Scrin at the same time.

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

"**CRITICAL UNIT LOST!"**

Foreman 371 starts to curse as his Mothership AI reports to him the loss of the Mastermind unit. Without the Mastermind, he would not be able to supply the attacking strike army with fresh troops immediately since it will still take some more time before another wormhole can be opened again.

The foreman does not understand how exactly the Mastermind had died. He does suspect that there is a hidden assassin type of unit hidden within the ranks of the enemy base defenders, which is why he had previously deployed so many Seekers in order to guard and protect high-value assets such as the Mastermind. What he does not foresee, is for the enemy Mothership to unleash some kind of gravity vortex to imprison so many of his units, including the Seekers. Although one Seeker manages to escape the fate of being imprisoned, something suddenly immobilises and blinds it with some kind of stasis technique, rendering the only remaining detector useless. Without any detectors watching out for the Mastermind, the hidden assassin must had made use of the chance to slip in and killed the Mastermind.

Without the leadership of the Mastermind, Foreman 371 can only hope that the remaining strike units are enough to destroy the enemy base. They have just been released by the gravity vortex, and they have slightly outnumbered the enemy defenders. The tripods and the previously mind controlled enemy heavy unit had done an excellent job in clearing up the enemy numbers. Still, the chances of a victory would be even higher if a fleet can join in an assault.

"**Mothership; what is the status of Gravity Stabiliser Outpost 333?" **the foreman asks.

"**6 GRAVITY STABILISERS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CONSTRUCTED; ALL OUTPOST PERIMETER DEFENCES ARE ONLINE; ALL REFINERIES WORKING AT MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY; BASE POWER OUTPUT STABLE; UNITS DEPLOPYED INCLUDE 18 STORMRIDERS, 3 DEVASTATORS AND 1 PLANETARY ASSAULT CARRIER!"**

"**This number of ships is still not enough! " **Foreman 371 realises, knowing that he still needs to wait a little longer before a sizeable Scrin fleet can be readied to take out the enemy fleet. With the presence of an enemy Mothership that is capable of cloaking its allies and trapping enemy units with a gravity vortex, the foreman does not wish to risk exposing the presence of the secret outpost too soon. **"Let's hope that the current number of strike units are adequate to eliminate the enemy base!" **he prays.

Unfortunately for Foreman 371, lady luck is not on his side, right now.

"**ALERT: WARP FIELD SIGNATURE DETECTED... ENEMY REINFORCEMENT HAS ARRIVED!"**

"**NO! We've almost won! Now I have to plan the attack all over again!" **the foreman curses, unable to believe how victory has slipped away from his grasp.

* * *

(Back at the battle at the rear of Protoss base...)

Zeratul and his small band of warriors stand strong in front of the large numbers of Scrin that had been just warped back to the plane due to the expired effect of the Vortex. Although they have the support of _Aiuron _right above them, they know that even that may not be enough to help them defeat large number of Scrin war machines and tripods in a short matter of time.

Just as they are about to fight till their last, they suddenly detect a very strong warp energy signature right above them, just beside _Aiuron_. As combatants on both sides look upwards in the sky, they can see a giant bright blue cuboidal rift appearing right next to the Protoss Mothership. The rift "unfolds" itself and expands in length and width, before another bright flash of light covers the whole battlefield. After the light fades, the form reveals itself: another Protoss Mothership.

'_That...that's the Mothership Shield of Aiur; so that means...'_

Before Zeratul can fully understand the events that had transpired, the newly arrived Mothership activated its vast psionic energy reserves and conducted a Mass Recall, instantly summoning a sizeable fleet of Protoss ships complete with fighters and Warp Prism transports.

"_The Hierarch's fleet has arrived! Victory is ours!"_ one of the Zealots shouts out in excitement, in which the rest of the Protoss combatants follow suit,

"_VICTORY!"_

The arrival of the Artanis' fleet immediately boosts the morale of the Protoss defenders, while quickly demoralises those of the Scrin invaders. The situation has been reversed; it is the Scrin invaders who have been outnumbered now.

Without a Mastermind or any field leader to guide them, the rest of the Scrin strike army quickly fall into panic and disorder, allowing the Protoss warriors and the newly arrived ships to quickly finish them off. Even the mighty tripods quickly fall under the mighty prismatic beams of the Void Rays.

* * *

(A few minutes later after the arrival of Protoss reinforcements...)

The battle is over; the remaining Scrin units of the invading strike army had been sent scurrying back to their own base. The Expeditionary Fleet forward base has been successfully preserved, thanks to the efforts and sacrifice of hundreds of brave Protoss warriors, and the timely arrival of reinforcements in the form of Hierarch Artanis' fleet.

The battlefield is littered with the husks of fallen tripods, remains of broken Scrin and Protoss machines, as well as a few corpses of Protoss warriors whose armour had failed to warp their broken bodies away. Ruins of Photon Cannons and Pylons are also present, leaving gaps in the Protoss static defence line; but this would not be too much of a problem as Probes begin to arrive at the scene to warp in replacement structures in order to fill up the gap in the defence line.

Right now, the Warp Gates, Robotics Facilities and Stargates are working overtime to summon in replacements for the units lost in the defence of the rear of the base. Husks of the fallen tripods and other Scrin war machines are quickly destroyed by the remaining defenders under the orders of Furon, who fears that these machines may suddenly rise up again if left unattended.

* * *

(Inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_Keep up the good work, executor..."_

Just as Zeratul enters the control bridge of the Mothership _Shield of Aiur_, he hears the commander of the Mothership congratulating Furon, who is currently still taking command inside the base's Nexus, of a successful defence of the base.

On hearing the approach of Zeratul, the commander turns back from the control terminal and faces towards the dark prelate. He reveals himself to be a rather young-looking sand coloured skin male Protoss dressed in heavy ceremonial robe and armour. His sky blue eyes stare at the gaze of Zeratul's green eyes.

'_It's really been a long time since I had met the young praetor...'_ Zeratul feels as he notices the huge drastic change in the young Protoss' choice of clothing. The last time they met during the Brood War about 4 years ago, the young Protoss had known to be always scantily dressed despite his high rank for his youth. The new appearance of the newly appointed hierarch has given Zeratul an impression of a more matured and responsible leader.

"_En taro Tassadar, Zeratul! It's been a long time!"_ the young hierarch greets the ageing dark prelate enthusiastically. Artanis has been spending years trying to locate the self-exiled dark templar since the dark templar had been forced to slay his matriarch in order to free her from the wretched Kerrigan's manipulation. Zeratul was originally appointed to be the fallen matriarch's successor, only to have left Shakuras and went on a journey of self-induced exile due to his guilt of slaying the matriarch himself. With an empty post left behind by Raszagal and Zeratul, Artanis had been chosen by his people to be the next successor and hierarch of the newly formed Protoss Protectorate, a congregation of both Khalai and Nerazim Protoss banded together on Shakuras to face against the common threat of the Zergs and the Queen of Blades. Despite feeling the heavy sense of burden on his shoulders, Artanis tried his best to lead his people, but had failed to fully unite the 2 different cultures, causing the entire race to slip into a state of tribalism. Realising that he could not rally his people by himself, Artanis hoped to find Zeratul, whose name and experience should be of a big help to reunite the entire Protoss as a race. Now, with Zeratul just standing right in front of him, his search is finally over.

"_En taro Tassadar, Artanis! It's been a long time too, my friend! I've learnt from Executor Furon that you had been searching for me for the past 4 years. I'm sorry that you have to carry such a heavy burden of leading all our people, a burden that I should be the one to be carrying..."_

"_A burden indeed, but an everlasting honour for one to carry. I've heard from Furon that you had been spending the last 4 years trying to search for ancient prophecies of the Xel'naga, and had found some disturbing news about the future, can you please enlighten me about that?"_

"_I will, but not now! Right now, we must focus in our task to drive off the Scrin from this world and cleanse Ichor and its infested Zergs before they spread across the entire sector!"_

"_Agreed! Regardless of why the Scrin are here, we must not allow these new threats to establish any foothold on this sector when we still have the threat of the Zergs in our hands!"_

'_Oh, you'll be surprised about the role of the Zergs in the future when you read my visions.' _Zeratul mentally comments, finding it ironic that Artanis is still hating the Zergs, not aware that they will be the key to the survival of their species in the near future. Maybe he will change his mind after seeing the dark future as shown in his memory in one of the Ihan crystals.

"_So where is Executor Selendis? Isn't she with you?"_ Zeratul asks, wondering why he did not find the promising student of Artanis on board of the ship.

"_Selendis was on a border patrol mission during the time we had received the distress call by Furon. Hence she was unable to return in time to assist us in this battle."_ Artanis explains.

"_I see... then it'll be up to us to stop this threat before it's too late!"_

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

"**FOREMAN, THE ANALYSIS OF THE ENEMY AERIAL PROBE REMAINS MADE BY THE ASSIMILATOR HAD BEEN COMPLETE! ALL ANALYSIS RESULTS SHALL BE TRANSFERRED INTO THE MAIN DATA CORE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE!"**

Foreman 371 begins to read and study all the available data about their new enemies that had been extracted by the Assimilator. Language assimilation of the analysed software utilised by the enemy aerial probe has indicated that their new humanoid enemies call themselves as the Protoss. According to the memory stored in that probe, these indigenous species known as the Protoss also knows about the other hive-minded species that they had first encountered during planetfall, in which they are named as Zergs.

Besides the names of their new enemies, Foreman 371 has also learnt that the Assimilator had managed to dissect and analyse how the enemy Observer functions. Every details analysed by the Assimilator, including the material compounds used as its armour, anti-gravity levitation device, mini-cloaking field generator and plasma shield generator, had been recorded down.

As Foreman 371 scans through the data, he finds it interesting that the eye of the Observer is connected to a kind of device that seems to function like some kind of advanced neural transmitter. Adding to the fact that the Protoss has no mouths or any forms of oral cavities, there is a strong likelihood that the Protoss must have communicated through telepathy, a form of communication which is also common in the Masterminds and members of the Traveller cults. This might have explained why these Protoss also know some techniques such as opening warp rifts and instant teleportation, techniques that not just require advanced level of technology but also great mental strength to utilise. With the new knowledge on how the Protoss communicates, Foreman 371 may find some ways to disrupt their lines of mental communication through disruptive telepathy; or even better, find some ways to invade and intercept their communications. If the Traveller cults arrived, the foreman would definitely need their help if they want to win this psychic warfare.

Besides forms of communication, Foreman 371 is also interested on the weapons, armour and shield generator used by these Protoss. If these technology can be assimilated into their own, it would be an excellent chance to carry out a major upgrade on their military hardware, which had remained relatively unchanged since the failed Earth invasion due to centuries of stasis. However, with information only originating from a tiny remains of 2 Observers, there is not enough data obtained to allow the Scrin to carry out such levels of technology upgrades. They would need to analyse more Protoss remains, and the current best way to do so is to annihilate their forward base.

"**FOREMAN; IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE COMPLETE ASSEMBLY OF THE THRESHOLD TOWER TO BE COMPLETE IN T-MINUS 60 MINUTES!" **the Scrin Mothership AI notifies Foreman 371 on how long the rest of the reinforcements can arrive.

"**We must not give the enemy a chance to rally and regroup! Mothership, begin constructing a Warp Chasm now! Also, I want a Rift Generator to be constructed and deployed immediately!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED... BUILDING..."**

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Wrath of the Locusts: Eradication

Bolstered by reinforcements from Artanis forces, the Protoss are about to launch a major counter-attack against the Scrin. However, unaware to the Protoss, the Scrin are just getting warmed up.

* * *

I haven't fully finished the concluding part of the battle, so the next chapter you are going to wait for a while before it's up.


	19. Act 18: Wrath of the Locusts:Eradication

And here's the ending battle part of the Protoss-Scrin conflict on Mar Sara.

Someone has asked whether if Tiberium-spawned fauna such as Tib fiends and floaters will make an appearance in my story. My answer is probably in the much later chapters, since it will take time for Tiberium to change the entire landscape and ecosystem of an infested planet.

To MegaAuthor: The Reaper and Traveller subfactions will appear. However, they will be integrated into the main Scrin army, since the Scrin is planning to invade the Koprulu Sector with its entire armada. This means that the unique units of these subfactions will be fighting alongside with the vanilla Scrin. As for the Brood Mother, I will not reveal too much yet.

To RedTitanAlpha: Thank you for expressing that you enjoy my work. Well, I admit that tripods are one of my most favourite Scrin units too.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

WARNING! RIFT GENERATOR DETECTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 18: WRATH OF THE LOCUSTS: ERADICATION**

(Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base, Mar Sara...)

"_In...incredible!"_

Furon stares in awe as a Colossus steps out of a Robotics Facility, joining a small group of other walkers, including several Immortals and other Colossi. Although he has heard tales about these powerful war machines that can annihilate entire armies in a short span of time, Furon has never even seen one before, let alone witnessing one in action.

The giant Protoss quadruped war machine towers over the rest of the gathering Protoss army. With its 4 long, thin spindly legs, the giant unmanned walker would have easily towered over even the enemy tripods. Its large, crown-shaped body, housed with arrays of circuits and its armed twin thermal lances, appears to be more heavily armoured too. With these legendary war machines joining the fray, there should be nothing to fear from the Scrin, even the tripods. The only concern Furon has will be the Scrin aerial fighters and ships, which are the Colossus' greatest weakness. Of course, if anti-air units such as Stalkers, Sentries or Archons are sent to escort the giant walkers, there would be nothing to fear about aerial threats.

"_Impressive, aren't they?"_ Zeratul asks, approaching Furon who is still staring at the huge war machines. Unlike his companion, Zeratul is less excited about taking command of these legendary war machines, since he had already had the experience of activating and commanding some of them on Aiur some time ago, during his search for clues for the Xel'naga prophecies. Still, with such experience in him, Zeratul knows that the chance of victory against the Scrin would be much higher if these war machines join in the battle.

"_Unbelievable! To hear about these Colossi is one thing; to see them in my very eyes... is another! So Hierarch Artanis believes that our situation is so urgent that we need to reactivate these ancient machines of destruction?"_ Furon asks, as he is well aware of the fact that the Colossi had been banned before due to their destructive powers.

"_Artanis believes that the Colossi would greatly assist us in the coming war against the Zergs; but now it seems that we would also need them for the upcoming battle against the new threats of Scrin and Ichor." _Zeratul replies.

"_I agree, prelate! We'll just need to summon in more of them before sending them for an all-out assault against the Scrin base."_

As Furon and Zeratul are discussing on how to utilise the newly arrived Colossi, brought in by Artanis' fleet, a High Templar initiate approaches the 2 Protoss leaders,

"_Prelate Zeratul, Executor Furon; I apologise for intruding your discussion, but Hierarch Artanis requests for your presence in his command bridge to discuss the next battleplan."_

Both leaders nod their heads, understanding what needs to be done.

"_Inform Artanis that we would be there shortly!"_ Zeratul replies.

* * *

(A few minutes later... inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

Zeratul and Furon enters the control bridge of the Mothership _Shield of Aiur_, to find the young Hierarch Artanis, as well as a number of high-ranking High Templar and Dark Templar, surrounding the Khaydarin crystal terminal of the Mothership. Upon seeing the arrival of the dark prelate and the commander of the other Mothership _Aiuron_, Artanis and the templars quickly greet the visiting pair.

"_We've been expecting you!"_ Artanis greets the two.

"_We've arrived as you had requested, Artanis. What kind of assistance do you need from us?"_ Zeratul returns the formalities.

"_I had been discussing with my advisors on our next battleplan to combat against the threat of the Scrin, but we severely lack any intelligence on them. You two had been battling against these new threats for some time and I believe that both of you should have some knowledge on the capabilities and tactics employed by these aliens. Would you kindly share what you two have learnt with us?"_ Artanis tells the two, pointing out to them that he needs to learn more about the Scrin.

"_Gladly, Hierarch Artanis!" _Furon relies, as he taps the Khaydarin crystal terminal of the ship to show an image of a marching Scrin army. Throughout the next few minutes, both Furon and Zeratul begin to explain all the observations they had made on the Scrin forces as they battled them, including their unit composition, tactics employed, unique abilities of each units, and their enhanced regeneration under the radiation of Ichor. They have also mentioned about the ability of these Scrin to open wormholes and send troops through the wormhole, allowing them to carry out sneak attacks from any direction; and the existence of a type of powerful psionic Scrin infantry that can teleport armies and use Mind Control abilities other than fighting off enemies with its rapid-firing energy-based weapon.

Based on the accounts given by Zeratul and Furon, Artanis and his advisors can conclude that the Scrin is indeed a formidable opponent; another race that has the capability to defeat them other than the Terrans and the Zergs. The early Scrin scouting units may have lacked protection, they make it up with numbers and powerful offensive capabilities. The more advanced Scrin war machines that appear later, though, can be tough powerhouses armed with heavy armour, light shielding, and overwhelming firepower. The technology level of the Scrin may have been as advanced as theirs, although there are a few differences in the specialised fields of technology between theirs and the Scrin's, such as the difference in shield technology (more superior in the Protoss) and Ichor utilisation (obviously more superior in the Scrin).

"_Then do you have any ideas about their base layout or the purpose of that huge tower they are assembling?"_ Artanis asks.

"_Unfortunately, no!"_ Zeratul replies, as he recites what has happened during the failed attack onto the enemy base, _"The strike army that I had led met stiff resistance from the enemy scouting forces. Although we managed to defeat each wave of scouts, we suffered severe casualties after every wave. Before we can close in to their base, the number of warriors in the strike army was so thinned down that it would be too risky to even take a peek at the enemy base. Furon did send in a reinforcement, but before we could proceed, we encountered enemy warships, which we were ill-equipped to deal with. At the same time, Furon contacted me that the base was under attack and hence I had no choice but to pull back the strike army and return to defend the base. I did send 2 Observers to resume scouting for the enemy base but we lost contact of their signals shortly after we had returned to base, most likely taken out by enemy fire."_

"_I see... regardless of what that tower is used for, we cannot allow the Scrin to complete its construction! We must attack immediately!"_ Artanis orders, _"This time, we'll load our strike army into Warp Prisms. The Scrin must have been aware of our arrival and would most likely station more units on the ground to hold off any possible assaults!"_ As Artanis continues his briefing, he points to the minimap layout of the entire battlefield projected in the Khaydarin crystal terminal, which shows both their forward base and the possible location of the Scrin forward base where the mysterious tower is still under construction, _"As you can see, the ground route from our base to the suspected location of the enemy's base is long and filled with many curves along the path, not to mention there are many high cliffs and Ichor fields where the enemy may take the advantage with. A direct ground assault along this route would most likely suffer serious casualties if the enemy has stationed defenders along the route. Hence I believe the best choice of assault is a direct aerial approach, which we will send our attacking forces through the Warp Prisms which will fly directly straight into the rear of the enemy base... right around here! Of course, we will send Scouts and Phoenix flights to escort the Warp Prisms in case of enemy fighter patrol!"_

Furon and the rest of the Templar-caste advisors in the control bridge agree with Artanis' battleplan as they listen attentively to what Artanis has planned to take out the Scrin, although Zeratul seems to have some doubts.

"_A bold plan I would say; although it sounds that it may work but I have to point out the risk that this plan may not succeed if the Scrin has stationed heavy anti-air defences in their base. If his plan is to work, we must make sure that the attacking forces have at least dealt serious damage to the enemy base to the point that they will not be able to recover from a second wave of assault!" _Zeratul comments.

"_I agree! This is why I have prepared a large army to initiate the attack. The strike army would be placed in more than10 Warp Prisms, and this army would consist of Stalkers, Sentries, Immortals and Colossi. While the armoured troops mop out the resistance, the Warp Prisms would remain and deploy to enable warp-in of additional infantries into the battle. The escorting fighters would join in the fight as well. With the size of the army, I am confident that we can deal a death blow to our enemy before they can recover!"_ Artanis replies, trying to assure to the dark prelate that his battleplan would work.

Just before Zeratul can further comment, a Dark Templar initiate enters into the bridge and makes a report, _"Hierarch! I deeply apologise for intruding the meeting, but I have an urgent matter to report!"_

Intrigued by the sudden urgent news, Artanis decides to find out what news is so urgent that would make an initiate dare to interrupt an important meeting between the leaders.

"_What is the urgent matter you need to report, initiate?"_

"_Hierarch, just a short while ago, our sensors have detected a very powerful warp signature originating from a position very close in proximity to the location of the enemy tower! However, unlike other warp signatures, this one did not match the readings to those of a warp rift as the warp energy is not released in a constant flow; instead, the reading shows that this one appears to be gathering warp energy at a steady rate!"_

"_WHAT?"_

All the commanders present in the bridge are confused of what the initiate had spoken; they had never heard before of this phenomena and hence they had no idea what is going on.

"_Gathering warp energy? What are those Scrin up to?" _Furon wonders.

"_Near the proximity of the enemy tower? Looks like the Scrin has built some kind of special device in their base... but for what purpose does it gather warp energy for?"_ Artanis comments.

"_We won't know until the Scrin reveals it. Regardless of what they are up to, I highly doubt it is something that can be beneficial to us!"_ Zeratul voices out his thoughts.

"_Indeed! This gives us more reasons to attack and cripple their operations immediately! Everyone, I'm afraid that we would have to initiate the attack right now!"_ Artanis announces.

"_Are you sure, Artanis? What about the defences in our base here?"_ Zeratul voices out his concerns.

"_The forward base shall be protected with Photon Cannons and our ships, including Aiuron and Shield of Aiur. I believe this should be enough to hold off anymore sneak attacks if the Scrin tries to attempt them again. I am well aware of the risks in this battleplan, Zeratul, but time is not on our side. We had no choice but to strike now before it's too late!"_ Artanis replies.

Zeratul sighs as he is starting to have a bad feeling on the events that will transpire next, although he does agree to Artanis' views that they are running out of time and this attack may be the only option left for them. If they drag on further, who knows what the Scrin are up to next.

"_Alright... I'll agree with your plan, Artanis..."_ Zeratul reluctantly decides to agree with Artanis.

"_So do I, hierarch!"_ Furon also votes yes.

"_We all agree too!"_ the other advisors make their agreements as well.

"_Then it is decided..."_

* * *

(Back in the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base...)

The Protoss ground army consisting of Zealots, Stalkers, Sentries, Immortals, High Templar, Dark Templar and Colossi, are loaded into the crystal cores of more than 10 Warp Prism transports by being disintegrated and stored into the crystal cores as molecular particles. With all Warp Prisms fully loaded with ground units, the robotic transport ships set off, heading towards the site of the Scrin forward base, where the huge mysterious Scrin tower, though still undergoing assembly, is visible to the naked eye over the horizon. A flight of 8 Phoenix and 8 Scouts, followed by 4 Observers, escort the Warp Prisms, ready to protect the transports from any aerial threats that may intercept them along the way.

* * *

(About 20 miles away from the Protoss base... inside Scrin forward base Drone Platform... Mar Sara...)

"**NEW CONSTRUCTIONS OPTIONS!"**

The Mothership AI announces after a Warp Chasm has been placed inside the base. For Foreman 371, this means that he can summon in one of the most devastating Scrin arsenal to walk on land. Soon, that weapon shall lead an armoured column to eradicate the Protoss after the fleet has wiped out the enemy ships.

The Scrin foreman has planned to conduct a 2-pronged final assault against the enemy base, using a coordinated attack from an armoured ground forces from the forward base, and a fleet assault from the previously established Gravity Stabiliser Outpost 333. Even if the assault failed, he would proceed to wipe it out with their newly constructed Rift Generator, or he would simply summon in the Mothership to fully destroy all forms of resistance.

Just as Foreman 371 is about to order for the warp-in of an Eradicator Hexapod, he hears his Mothership AI informing of another threat looming close to their base,

"**WARNING: ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED NEAR STORM COLUMN PERIMETER!"**

Foreman 371 quickly looks into his command interface and soon enough, finds a flight of what appears to be enemy fighters and transports heading straight towards the Storm Column perimeter. It seems that he would have to postpone the final assault for a while, unless he wants to risk the enemy forces destroying the precious Threshold Tower that is almost fully assembled.

"**Prepare all defences! Get all units in the base to get into battle positions! Inform all available Stormriders to intercept the enemy aerial convoy!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED..."**

* * *

(A few miles away from Scrin forward base...)

The aerial convoy of Warp Prisms, Phoenixes and Scouts are flying straight towards the Scrin tower construction site, which is already visible over the horizon. So far, there seems to be nothing coming to intercept them on their way. However, as they fly closer towards the Scrin base, they sense a weird weather pattern ahead of their flight path.

"_What...in the name of Adun... is... THAT?" _the Phoenix flight leader of the convoy escorts is confused as he sees a localised lightning storm ahead of their path. Just a few seconds ago, the weather is completely fine; and now right in front of them, there is a fierce storm blowing ahead. The Phoenix flight leader looks back of the entire flight and finds that the skies are completely clear behind them, making him even more baffled.

"_This is Phoenix Flight leader Frenix; we'd spotted a weather anomaly ahead of the flight path! I'm uncertain of whether we should head in straight or not! Requesting for further instructions!"_ the escorting Phoenix flight leader decides to report the matter back to the base.

* * *

(Inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_Hmm... what do you think about this storm, Zeratul?" _Artanis asks, after the group of commanders present in the bridge has just received the report given by the escorting Phoenix flight leader.

Zeratul observes the footage of the raging storm as projected through the eyes of the Observer escorts by the Khaydarin crystal terminal. Indeed, the lightning storm looks weird as it is too localised right around the Scrin base, like a protective circle of lightning clouds. Elsewhere, the weather is completely fine. It appears that the storm is only present surrounding the Scrin base; too abnormal for an ordinary storm.

Just then, one of the senior Dark Templar advisors point out something in the footage, _"Prelate, what do you think are those things?"_

Zeratul looks at the image of the things that the other Dark Templar has pointed out. Soon enough, he makes out an image of an array of purple and silver towers that resemble feathers or sea fans in shape.

"_They look like some type of tower, perhaps some kind of detector?"_ Furon guesses due to the shape of the towers.

"_Perhaps... no wait! The Observers have detected energy signals flowing through those towers, which seem to be heavily ionising the surrounding air,"_ Zeratul exclaims, _"if these towers are manipulating the surrounding atmosphere, then this means..."_

"_It means that these towers must be responsible for the localised storm!"_ Artanis concludes.

"_The energy signatures emitted out from those lightning bolts seem to be almost off the chart, I think it will be too risky for the transports to fly through the storm even with the shields up! I suggest we will have to try to find another way!"_ Zeratul suggests.

"_But we would lose precious time for that! Besides, we will also increase the risk that the enemy forces will find these transports and realise what we are trying to do!"_ Artanis protests.

"_How about destroying these towers first? If these towers are truly responsible for creating that localised lightning storm, maybe we can clear the storm by removing those towers?"_ Furon suggests.

"_That sounds good, but we must not forget that the lightning strikes from that storm is dangerous. If we are to destroy the towers, we will have to risk sending in our fighters or troops through the storm before we can close in to attack the towers. I'm afraid that the storm can cause heavy damage to our forces if we are to fly through..."_ Zeratul comments on Furon's suggestion.

As the commanders present are still debating of how to respond to the sudden abnormal storm encounter, a High Templar advisor suddenly notices something shown in the long-range scanners,

"_Hierarch, we've detected multiple enemy signatures approaching the transports at high speed! Judging by the speed, it is most likely to be enemy fighters!"_

Alarmed by the sudden news, Artanis and the other commanders including Zeratul and Furon quickly return their focus back to the Khaydarin crystal terminal. True to the templar's words, long-range scanners did pick up about 16 enemy fighters heading towards their transports; their attack army has been discovered!

"_This is going to be real bad; hierarch! If these fighters strike now, we'll lose all our transports and strike units even with the protection of our fighter escorts. We must either retreat or strike now!"_ Furon exclaims.

"_Indeed! I believe we have no other alternatives other than to strike now! The enemy has realised that we have the capability to transport our troops through the air and launch aerial drops directly into their base. If we retreat now, the enemy would definitely increase aerial patrols in the future, giving us less alternatives to attack the enemy base! It is a risky tactic, but there is a chance that we may cripple their base operations if the attack succeeds."_ Artanis replies.

All the other commanders present in the bridge nods in agreement to the young hierarch's next move, including Furon. Zeratul is feeling more sceptical as he highly doubts that the attack will succeed due to the intensity of the lightning storm, but he does agree that Artanis' idea of striking now being the best choice they have left. The enemy tower appears to be near completion and they have no idea what it is used for; they have no intent of finding it out either. Also, they have just recently detected an abnormal warp signature present in the enemy base, which they have highly suspected that the Scrin is preparing some kind of tactical manoeuvre that they will never expect; another thing that they have no intent of finding out too. If the strike army is to retreat now, the element of surprise will be gone, and there may never be any opportunity to launch a successful attack onto the Scrin base before the Scrin completes the assembly of that huge tower.

"_Very well; we'll agree as you have planned, Artanis!"_ Zeratul gives his word of agreement, in which the young hierarch gladly accepts.

* * *

(Back at the Warp Prism convoy...)

The Phoenix escort flight leader has received his orders; he and his escort flight are to engage the approaching enemy fighters, while the Warp Prisms would have no choice but to drop the troops now. The dropped troops will in turn focus their attacks against these strange feather-shaped structures which the leaders had believed to be causing the abnormal lightning storm.

Just then, the enemy flight of about 16 Scrin Stormriders begin to appear in the sight of the Protoss fighter pilots. Unwilling to allow the enemy fighters to disrupt the ground assault, the flight of Scouts and Phoenixes fly in intercept and engage the Stormriders. In seconds, ion blaster shots, anti-matter missiles and disruptor cannon shots begin to fly all over the place.

Meanwhile, the Protoss ground forces begin to disembark from their Warp Prism transports, as they are warped back to their physical form directly below the Warp Prisms. The army of Zealots, Stalkers, Immortals, Dark Templar and Colossi begin to charge straight towards the Scrin Storm Columns, intending to end the generated storm so as to allow a smooth passage through into the Scrin base. At their backs, the more vulnerable Sentries, High Templar and Observers stay further away safe from the storm, but ready to lend any form of support to their comrades at the front.

The Protoss forward forces barge right into the ion storm, and they quickly begin to suffer from the wrath of the super-charged lightning strikes. Even their plasma shields do not provide adequate protection from the storm, as their shields are quickly depleted within a few strikes, though the hardened shields of the Immortals prove out to be still strong enough to withstand the lightning strikes. Despite the intensity of the ion storm, the Protoss forward forces manage to close in within striking distance of the first Storm Column, as psi blades, particle disruptor shots, phase disruptor shots, warp blades and thermal lances work together to make short work out of the first Storm Column. As the first Storm Column crumbles into pieces of scrap metal, the Protoss forward forces quickly notices that the storm clouds above the destroyed Storm Column begins to dissipate, further proving that these arrays of towers are indeed responsible for generating the abnormal lightning storm above them. Now they will have to destroy the rest of the lot.

* * *

(Meanwhile, at the dogfighting Protoss and Scrin fighters...)

The dogfight between the Protoss fighters of Scouts and Phoenixes and Scrin Stormriders are fierce, as neither side are willing to back down. After several minutes of exchanging fire with each other, the Scrin side of Stormriders seem to realise that they are fighting a losing battle, as they are suffering twice the number of casualties compared to those of the Protoss due to the added protection of plasma shields and more superior firepower of the Protoss fighters. When the number of Stormriders has been reduced by half, the Stormriders decide to make a hasty retreat.

The Phoenixes and Scouts decide to give chase so as to prevent these enemy fighters from having any chance of a comeback. However, as they resume chasing the Scrin fighters from behind, firing their weapons at their quarry, they fail to realise where the Stormriders are heading to.

The Stormriders fly straight into the airspace where the Storm Columns that have yet to be destroyed by the Protoss ground forces. With the localised ion storm still raging in the vicinity, the Stormriders begin to refresh themselves as their previous battle damages are quickly repaired back. On the other hand, as the Phoenixes and Scouts pursue their prey right into the ion storm, the super-charged lightning strikes begin to wreak havoc upon the Protoss fighters airframe, weakening the plasma shields and even directly damaging some of the fighters' armour.

"_It's a trap! All fighters prepare to retreat out of the storm!"_ the Phoenix flight leader Frenix quickly realises their mistake and attempts to correct it by pulling back his flight before they get annihilated by the unusual lightning storm.

As the Protoss fighters frantically turn around and try to fly out of the storm, however, they soon quickly find themselves to be pursued by the Stormriders, which have been newly refreshed and ready to take the fight back to the Protoss.

"_The enemies are behind us!"_ one of the Scout pilot exclaims, when the Stormriders start to fire off their disruptor cannons at them.

Frenix is puzzled; his flight has been suffering severe damages the moment when they enter into the unusual lightning storm. The frequency of the lightning strikes in that storm is too high and they seem to be specifically target his flight mates. He has observed the Scrin fighters flying within the storm clouds, yet not only are they fully spared from the lightning strikes, they appear to perform even better within the storm. So how do these fighters avoid the lightning strikes? Regardless, it is obvious to Frenix that the enemy currently has a distinct field advantage if they are fighting inside the storm.

"_Everyone; do not turn around now! We'll engage the enemies the moment when we are out of the storm!"_ Frenix informs his flight mates.

Soon enough, the flight of Phoenixes and Scouts manage to fly out of the ion storm, though one Scout did not make it in time when its engines had been completely blown off by one lightning strike. The Stormriders resume their pursuit, firing barrages of disruptor cannon shots at the Protoss fighters. As a result, another Scout has been blown off from the sky. No longer in danger of the lightning storm, the Phoenixes and Scouts quickly fly back to engage the Scrin fighters. However, to their frustration, the Stormriders quickly retreat after only a few exchange rounds; and these pesky Scrin flyers are heading back into the vicinity of the ion storm.

Frenix curses inwardly as he quickly realises that the current situation is seriously not in their favour. They have the important mission to escort and protect the Warp Prisms, but now they have to deal with the problematic threat of hit-and-run Scrin fighters that have been using the abnormal storm as their cover and to their advantage. The Stormriders can quickly fly out of the storm clouds to make ambush attacks to anyone of them or the Warp Prisms, and quickly fly back into the storm to gain some protection and to repair themselves.

"_May Adun guide us all..."_ Frenix prays for his flight, hoping for a miracle that can end their predicament.

* * *

(Back at the assaulting Protoss strike army...)

The ground Protoss strike army has quickly found themselves in a very bad situation. After destroying the first Storm Column, they are pretty confident that they can take down the other columns too. However, as they push deeper into the ion storm to destroy the other Storm Columns, the full wrath of the ion storm is finally begun to be felt by the Protoss army.

As the army pushes on to try to destroy the 2nd Storm Column, most of the units have their plasma shields fully depleted, courtesy to the super-charged lightning strikes. When they do succeed in destroying the 2nd column, they have begun to take in casualties as 1 Dark Templar has fallen. Before they destroy the 3rd column, all of them have begun taking in damages from the lightning strikes, and 2 additional Dark Templar and 1 Zealot have fallen. When the 4th column crumbles, 3 Dark Templar, 3 Zealots and 2 Stalkers have been lost.

After the destruction of the 5th column and another additional loss of 2 more Zealots and 2 more Stalkers, the Protoss army finally find themselves staring at the entrance of what appears to be an alien establishment. From a distance, they can see the outline of multiple unnatural structures shaped like various sea creatures. The surviving Dark Templar of the army can feel alot of traces of powerful warp energy signatures originating from some of these structures, seemingly to bear similarities to some sort of a portal or warp gate. Among the multiple strange-looking structures, one stand out among all of them: the giant triple-helix tower that can be sighted all the way from their own camp.

Finally the Protoss forces have made a visual contact of the Scrin base.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_Hierarch, our forces have sighted the enemy base!"_ Furon announces, after psionically receiving the thoughts from the forward forces.

In response of Furon's announcement, the entire band of commanders turn their attention to the Khaydarin crystal terminal, which begins to project images of the Scrin base through the eyes of the Observers sent to escort the forward strike army.

As the commanders observe the Scrin base, all of them give a single conclusion; the assault against the Scrin base is going to be more difficult than they previously thought. Footages as shown by the Observers have revealed that besides the strange feather-shaped towers that are generating lightning storms, the base is surrounded with other smaller towers that appear to fill the roles of defence turrets. Within the base, there are hundreds of Scrin heavy infantries and swarms of Buzzers, accompanied by dozens of medium-sized war machines and about half a dozen tripods. Added with the lightning storm that is still raging in the vicinity of the Scrin base and its outlying area, an assault using the current number of ground troops still does not seem to be enough.

"_The Scrin base is more heavily defended than we thought! Deploy the Warp Prisms and prepare to use the Warp Gates to warp in troops below the Warp Prisms! We'll use the Warp Gates to reinforce the strike army and attack!"_ Artanis makes his decision in hoping that they can still at least cripple the Scrin forward base.

"_But we can only warp in the lighter units through the Warp Gates; we can't reinforce the strike army with heavier weapons such as Immortals or Colossi!"_ Zeratul points out.

Artanis thinks carefully for a moment; he realises that Zeratul does make a good point. With the enemy base so heavily defended, he definitely needs to rely on heavy weapons such as Immortals and Colossi for the assault. During the assault against the Scrin storm-generating towers, he had noticed that the Immortals had suffered the least amount of damage from the storm, thanks to their hardened shields. Their phase disruptor may also be useful in demolishing Scrin armour and probably their structures too. Against the swarms of Scrin infantries, the Colossi may be the answer. Also, both Immortals and Colossi may be the best weapons that can face the Scrin tripods in a head-on battle. However, as both Immortals and Colossi can only be summoned from the Robotics Facility, there is no way to summon these war machines directly into the battlefield, unlike through the Warp Gates. The only solution is to transport these heavy weapon platforms through Warp Prisms convoy by convoy, which will be too slow. Unless, there is another alternative solution...

"_Then in this case, we'll transport some Probes to set up an expansion outpost close to the Scrin base. We'll use the expansion to build additional Warp Gates, Robotics Facilities and Stargates to constantly reinforce the strike army!"_ Artanis replies.

As every other commanders hear Artanis' decision, all of them nod their heads in approval.

* * *

(Back at the Protoss strike army...)

Dark Templar mentor Necross grunts in frustration as he pulls the strike army back away from the ion storm. Just a few seconds ago, he had received orders from the higher commands that he should pull his troops off from the ion storm and await for further reinforcements before making a final push against the enemy base. Deep in his mind, Necross hopes to wipe out all traces of the Scrin to avenge the fallen brothers that had given up their lives to destroy the Storm Columns. There are only a few such towers left and Necross is confident that they can destroy all these towers and fully stop the formation of the storm. However, the higher commands do not seem to be as confident.

As the Protoss ground strike army falls back from the range of the ion storm, they can see the Warp Prisms beginning to deploy themselves into aerial Pylon, initiating the warp-in of more infantries and Stalkers. As the Protoss reinforcements of foot soldiers, Templar-caste warriors, Sentries and Stalkers begin to phase into existence, more Warp Prisms have been sighted flying into the area, dropping off Immortals, Colossi and even some Probes.

The Probes that have been dropped off waste no time in setting up warp rift for summoning in an additional Nexus next to a small mineral field, which has miraculously survived from Ichor absorption.

As Necross witnesses the latest events unfolding, he realises that the scale of the battle may be much larger than he had originally thought.

* * *

(Back at the dogfighting Protoss and Scrin fighters...)

Phoenix flight leader Frenix had just received their latest orders to retreat back to the site where the Warp Prism had dropped off the ground troops. For Frenix, it was a relief because they are currently having great difficulties in combating the hit-and-run strikes of the Scrin fighters. Already, they had lost a third of their comrades to these crafty fighters, which frequently retreat back into the ion storm to recuperate, and fly out to strike at them when they are trying to avoid flying into the storm. Although they had successfully shot down a number of those Scrin flyers, they had suffered more losses than the Scrin.

The flight of Phoenixes and Scouts quickly leave the aerial battle as they fly back towards the site where the ground strike army is amassing. However, as they turn tail and fly away, their actions have not gone unnoticed by the Stormriders.

The Stormriders have seen the retreat of the Protoss fighters as an opportunity for them to get behind the enemy fighters and wipe them out before they become into future threats. Hence the Stormriders decide to once again fly out of the safety of the ion storm and proceed to pursue their targets. Positioning themselves at the Protoss fighters six o' clock, the Stormriders let loose their disruptor cannon, peppering the sleek Protoss aircrafts with their energy shots.

BOOOOOOMMM!

Frenix curses as he watches another Scout behind him gets blown off from the sky due to the pursuing Stormriders. He has wished to turn back and engage those pesky flyers, but the commands issued by his superiors are absolute; he and his flight are to return back to the drop-off site in order to ensure that the arrival of reinforcements will not go unprotected by other aerial threats. Also, they have to protect an expansion camp which had just been set up recently. Hopefully, they will make it back to the site in time and let the Stalkers to deal with those alien fighters.

Finally, Frenix and flight see the gathering of Protoss warriors and Warp Prisms, signifying that they have reached their destination. Already, some of the Stalkers and Sentries are shooting back at the Stormriders that are pursuing behind them at their tail. When one of the Scrin disc-shaped flyers get blown off into pieces by particle disruptor shots, it is enough to send the purple fighters flying back home.

However, the Protoss had forgotten something very important after they had driven off the Stormriders...

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

"**FOREMAN, OUR STORMRIDERS HAD DISCOVERED PROTOSS FORCES MASSING UP APPROXIMATELY HALF A MILE WEST OF OUR FORWARD BASE. MULTIPLE WARP SIGNATURES HAVE BEEN DETECTED AT THE VICINITY, INDICATING THAT THE PROTOSS FORCES ARE MOST LIKELY GATHERING REINFORCEMENTS BEFORE THEY ATTEMPT A FINAL PUSH AGAINST OUR FORWARD BASE. WITH MORE THAN HALF OF OUR STORM COLUMNS DESTROYED, IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT WE CAN HOLD OFF THE ENEMY FINAL ASSAULT WITH OUR DEFENCES ALONE."**

Foreman 371 begins to assess his choices; he can either rebuild these lost defences, or he can send all available units in the forward base to wipe out the Protoss forces before they can reorganise themselves. After checking out that it would be taking some more time before the Rift Generator is ready to be activated, the foreman decides to take the offensive; currently his forces appear to have outnumbered the enemies, and he is not about to give the enemy a chance to increase their numbers. Also, the Warp Chasm is almost ready to summon in his next secret weapon.

"**Then we'll take the initiative and destroy the Protoss reinforcements before they jeopardise our forward base operations. Send in all available units present in our forward base to destroy the enemy expansion!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED..."**

* * *

(Back at the Protoss strike army gathering site...)

Dark Templar mentor Necross sits down as he recuperates from the previous ordeals in destroying the enemy towers, watching more soldiers warping-in from under the deployed Warp Prisms. A few distance away from their current location, a Nexus had just been summoned, and the Probes have begun summoning in Pylons. Right now as the new expansion is being set up, the only task Necross and the strike army can do is to stay on guard for any sudden enemy assault while letting their plasma shields to regenerate their power.

Suddenly, Necross feels a strong warning signal generated by one of the Observers running across his telepathic mind. This could have meant one thing: enemy presence detected!

All the rest of the Protoss warriors quickly get into the state of high alert as they detect the same warning signals by the Observers, while the robotic war machines begin to ready their weapons in anticipation of battling against the alien forces of the Scrin.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_Hierarch, I'm afraid that the Scrin had discovered the location of our expansion!" _Furon informs Artanis about the bad news.

"_Unfortunate indeed... we'll hope that our warriors will be able to hold off the Scrin assault as we send in the reinforcements."_ Artanis replies.

"_But don't you think it would be wiser if we pull back our forces from that area, Artanis?"_ Zeratul voices out his thoughts.

"_No!"_ Artanis replies, _"We don't have enough Warp Prisms to evacuate all our warriors at that area, which will mean that we will be suffering heavy casualties if we opt to retreat now. Also, I believe our army would have a better chance in victory if we allow the Scrin to send in their units against us right now. If we can fight off the Scrin counter-assault at our expansion, we would have higher chances to pull out a victory and at the same time, thinning the defences present at the enemy base. I had ordered the Probes to begin setting up Photon Cannons to increase the chances of a successful defence. All units of our strike army would participate in defending the expansion and stopping the Scrin counter-assault at all cost!"_

Zeratul nods in agreement as Artanis' arguments did make sense, but for some reason he still just can't shake off the weird feeling that things will be going very wrong.

* * *

(Back at the Protoss strike army expansion site...)

Necross stands on top of a small hill, which serves as an excellent vantage point for watching out movements in the Scrin base not too far away. Soon enough, he begins to visualise a huge swarm of Scrin units of varying shapes and sizes rushing towards their current location. No doubt that the Observers are trying to warn them about the inevitable approach of a Scrin counter-assault.

In just minutes, the first wave of Scrin Stormriders has been sighted speeding towards their location and the pesky biomechanical fighters waste no time to start strafing at the deployed Warp Prisms, seemingly intending to stop the warp-in of further reinforcements. In response to the Stormrider attacks, Stalkers, Sentries and Photon Cannon turrets begin to fire back at the smaller Scrin flyers with their anti-air weaponry, which successfully down several Stormriders before forcing the rest to retreat. Still, those Scrin fighters did manage to take out at least one of the Warp Prisms before returning back to their base.

Shortly after, the first wave of Stormriders fly off from the area, the next wave of Buzzers, Scrin heavy infantries and light war machines has entered into the fray, triggering a massive scale of ground combat between the Protoss warriors and the Scrin forces. Buzzers try to swarm over and overwhelm the Zealot defence line; Stalkers blink in to try to ambush Gun Walkers that are shooting at the Zealots, only for themselves to be ambushed by blinking Shock Troopers; Seekers launching volley of plasma disc at the Protoss fighters, only for the plasma discs to be nullified and weakened by Guardian Shields set up by Sentries; hallucinations set up by Sentries bait the Scrin infantries to direct their fire towards them, leaving some of the real actual Protoss warriors to be left unharmed and fit for the fight...

The battle goes on for minutes... and it begins to lean towards the favour of the Protoss...

Once again, the highly disciplined and skilfully trained Zealots are able to hold off the swarms of Buzzers and Disintegrators long enough despite their much smaller numbers, while thinning the swarm size with their powerful psi blades. With their speed, agility, blinking abilities and armour-piercing particle disruptor shots, most Stalkers are able to outmanoeuvre and outgun their Gun Walker and Shock Trooper counterparts. Sentries have provided much needed support for the smaller Protoss army with their forcefields, Guardian Shields and hallucinations. The High Templar present in the battlefield have all unleashed the Protoss version of lightning storm of mass destruction against their Scrin opponents... psionic storm! Dark Templar have been assassinating and wiping out key infantry units such as Shock Troopers or Ravagers to further weaken the Scrin army's overall offensive power. Immortals have proven to be the most useful in shielding the rest of the Protoss warriors with their hardened shields, while providing heavy firepower to smash Gun Walkers and Seekers into scrap metal in seconds.

The Colossi, introduced into this battle for the first time, have also proven to be a formidable weapon against the Scrin threat. Not only do the legendary war machines tower over the rest of the Scrin forces, intimidating their opponents, the sweeping motion of the thermal lances are excellent in devastating the tight clusters of Scrin infantry swarms. Often the Colossi would line themselves up in behind other Protoss warriors in a single file, and while the other Protoss warriors halt the Scrin advance, the long range of thermal lance fire would sweep across the Scrin frontlines like wipers of death, cutting and incinerating all forms of Scrin infantries or light war machines easily thanks to the unmatched firepower of the Colossi thermal lances.

With this second wave of Scrin forces seemingly dealt with, the Protoss strike army soon quickly realise that the real challenge of defending the expansion has only just begun, when the next wave of heavier Scrin units comprising of more advanced armour column of tripods, Devourer Tanks, Corrupters and another kind of newly observed giant millipede-like biomechanical creatures, has been sighted approaching towards their location.

The fast-moving Mechapedes, armed with dazzling array of weapon systems such as plasma cutter, plasma discs, liquid Tiberium sprayer and Tiberium shard launcher, are the first to rush in and engage their enemies. These long, multi-segmented biomechanical multi-weapon platforms waste no time enveloping and circling their opponents, allowing all of their installed weapon systems to be unleashed against their surrounded targets. Many of the Zealots are quick to fall in this kind of assault, as their armour and shields are completely no match against the full-blunt assault of multiple weapons of a Mechapede. Even the Immortals do not fare well against such type of assault, in which the multiple shots launched by the multiple segments of each Mechapede are effective in draining the power of the hardened shields, causing many Immortals to have their armour breached and some even taken out of commission. Stalkers try to escape from envelopment by blinking away, only to find themselves surrounded again as the Mechapede rushes to their new locations. Despite the efforts taken by the Protoss warriors in trying to break out from the Mechapedes envelopment and barrage, they are frustrated to find out that even if they break and destroy a certain section of the Mechapede, it will keep running as long as its head is still intact. In fact, some of the Templar-caste warriors have observed the Mechapedes' ability to regenerate their "lost" segments. It is only when an Immortal manages to score a critical headshot onto a Mechapede, in which the Protoss forces have realised that the only way of shutting a Mechapede down permanently is by destroying its head.

However, while the Mechapedes begin to take the blunt of Protoss counter-assault, the other Scrin heavy armour units begin to reach the frontlines as well. Devourer Tanks line themselves up from a far distance behind, unleashing devastating barrages of green proton beams fully charged with Ichor. Up front, half of all the Corrupters begin to "heal" the damaged Scrin units with their liquid Ichor spray, while the other half start to douse and melt Zealots and Templar alive with their toxic spray. Tripods unleash their triple proton beams against any non-Scrin objects, releasing short bursts of EMP pulses whenever any Protoss warriors get too close to them.

The Protoss army begins to suffer heavy casualties under the assault of the Scrin advanced armour column, but they are not about to give up without a fight. Reacting to the masses of Scrin that come bearing down against them, the High Templar present on the field all start to channel their psionic energies to unleash devastating psionic storms, which successfully destroy quite a huge bulk of the Scrin forces. Archon releases its powerful psionic shockwaves, shocking and frying entire Mechapedes into immobile pieces of junk. Other Mechapedes are devastated by swathes of thermal lance fire of the Colossi. Some Dark Templar have successfully slipped to the rear of the Scrin Devourer firing line, and have proceeded to disable the hover tanks by stabbing and slashing at the critical points with warp blades. The slow-moving Corrupters are quickly smashed into pieces by Immortals. Even the tripods have met their match...

* * *

The stalk-like head of an Annihilator Tripod faces slightly upwards as it stares right into the optics of its new opponent; an even taller quadruped walker with a massive crown-like body standing on 4 long but thin spindly legs. Unlike the tripod, the Colossus appears to have lifted its entire body high up above the ground for better height advantage, hence better weapon range coverage for it to sweep its thermal lances with. Although the tripod is significantly shorter, its mass is not too significantly smaller than the Colossus, as its body sticks closer to the ground for better balance on the ground and stability as its 3 legs spread out to support its own massive weight properly to prevent the tripod from collapsing under its own weight. On the contrary, the Colossus legs are long and thin, seemingly making them to look like exposed Achilles' heels. The tripod figures that if it can get close enough and concentrate its fire against any one of its 4 legs, it would most likely cause the taller walker to lose balance, allowing its own weight to destroy itself as it falls onto the ground.

The blinking optics of a Colossus stares slightly downwards as it sizes up its 3-legged adversary; a shorter but equally intimidating walker armed with 3 wavering tentacles that appear to be housing its main weapon. The artificial intelligence of the robotic quadruped walker begins to analyse this new opponent and has found out that despite its odd shape, it is better designed for stability and together with its heavy armour, harder to destroy. Still, if it manages to disable at least one of the opponent's 3 legs, it would still cause the enemy tripod to lose balance and hence securing a win. As the Colossus sees the Annihilator starting to walk towards it, it quickly reacts by aiming and targeting the approaching tripod... charging its weapon systems... and fires!

The forcefield generator of the Annihilator Tripod immediately goes to work as the twin thermal lances slice across the tripod surface, fully shielding off the deadly heat cutters. However, more than half of stored energy has been drained from the forcefield generator in order to fully shield off the cross-slashing assault of the Colossus. Just as the Colossus begins to cool down and prepare for the next assault, the tripod reaches the maximum striking distance of its proton beam cannon... and fires!

The Annihilator aims and fires at the Colossus using 2 of its 3 tentacle-mounted proton beam cannons simultaneously. The beams strike their target, but the damage has been fully protected by the Colossus' own plasma shield. The moment after that, the Colossus strikes again, unleashing its twin thermal lances which proceed to try to cut the tripod into half. Once again the damage has been neutralised, with the cost of the tripod's own shield. This time, the Colossus has fully depleted the tripod's shield. The tripod retaliates with its own weapons, but unlike the Colossus, it seems to have a little problem in fully taking down its opponent's shield immediately using its primary weapon alone.

Protected by its more advanced plasma shield technology that is more superior than that of the tripod's, the Colossus can totally focus in attacking its opponent without worrying too much about taking in damage. Its twin thermal lances once again unleashed, cutting across the tripod ahead and this time, cutting directly across the tripod's armour, leaving red marks across its path.

The tripod appears to be damaged, but the damage is not enough to disable one of Scrin's heaviest war machine. Fortunately due to its shape of having a tall height but rather short width, the tripod has not absorbed the full damage covered by the cutting paths of the thermal lances. The tripod accesses and analyses itself for damage report, which ends in the conclusion of insignificant damage that is not yet critical. Also, it has thought up of a method to remove the enemy's shield out of the equation and deal direct damage against the enemy walker.

The tripod continues its advance towards the enemy walker, firing its proton beams at the Colossus as it closes in. The Colossus keeps firing its twin thermal lances in a failing effort to hold off the advancing tripod. The Annihilator begins to take in some significant damage, as parts of its armour have been chipped off and green smoke have been leaking through the cracks of its armour. However, the damages do not stop the tripod from rushing straight towards the Colossus.

Finally, the damaged Annihilator walks right directly in front of the Colossus. By that moment, the Annihilator is belching out heavy green smoke from its 'wounds', though it still manages to fully depletes the enemy's plasma shield. Realising that its plasma shield is fully depleted, the Colossus tries to make a hasty retreat... but it is too late...

From beneath the Scrin tripod, a short range EMP pulse is released, just in range and striking the fleeing Protoss war robot. Without plasma shield to protect the towering war walker from the EMP effect, the Colossus comes to a sudden halt; unpowered and defenceless.

Seizing its chance, the Annihilator fires proton beam after proton beam, bombarding the vulnerable long skinny legs of the Colossus, while repeatedly releasing bursts of EMP pulse to ensure that the disabled enemy will not escape from its wrath.

Finally, after several blasts of proton beams to the disabled Colossus, the once mighty Protoss war walker has one of its legs completely blasted apart. With the loss of that one leg, the fate of the crippled Colossus is quickly sealed. Like a domino effect, the other 3 skinny legs of the crippled Colossus can no longer support the heavy weight of the Colossus main body itself, snapping into pieces like twigs being snapped under a huge force. As a result, the main body topples and hits hard onto the ground surface, crushed by its own weight.

With the destruction of one of the enemy heavy war machines, the injured Annihilator begins to search for a new target, while hoping that a Corrupter will notice its 'wounds' and approach to heal it. However, it is not going to be lucky this time.

As soon as it walks away from the husk of its fallen adversary, it quickly gets under fire by thermal lance fire from another Colossus. Surprised by the sudden attack, the Annihilator waves its 3 tentacles around to search for its assailant. As soon as it locates its new assailant just a few distance away from its rear, the injured tripod tries to close in and attempts the same tactic and closing in and disabling the enemy walker using its EMP pulse. However, unlike the previous standoff, this Colossus has learnt its lesson by observing and analysing how the tripod has taken down the previous Colossus using a combination of EMP and its primary weapon. After analysing that fight, the artificial intelligence of the second Colossus has concluded that the best way to counter that move is to keep a significant distance away from the tripod to prevent the short-range EMP pulse.

The second Colossus starts to walk away from the advancing tripod. The tripod fires proton beam as the Colossus tries to move out of its way. Although this manoeuvre prevents the Colossus from getting disabled by the EMP, it is unable to lock on its target and fires its twin thermal lances when it is still on the move. If it wants to fight back, it will need to stop and shoot, which may expose itself to EMP pulse.

Just then, the Colossus spots a cliff. Seizing its chance, the towering war walker lifts its long legs over the high elevation, stepping over the cliff and gets itself onto high ground. The tripod tries to follow, but fail miserably as its legs are too short to get itself onto the same spot as the Colossus. No longer able to utilise its EMP pulse, the injured Annihilator has to resort to trying to shoot at its taller adversary with its proton beams. However, it is already too damaged to exchange fire with the second Colossus. In the end, after a few more fire from the second Colossus, the tripod finally succumbs to its 'wounds', giving out a dying moan as it collapses onto its side and 'dies'. The Colossus maintains its fire onto the husk of the fallen Annihilator, however, ensuring that there will not be any chance that the fallen tripod would rise again, an intel that has been recently uploaded by its masters.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_Hierarch, our forces are under heavy assault from the Scrin counter-attack! We are suffering heavy losses but so does the enemy! We believe that our strike army may be able to defeat the enemy's counter-attack!"_ Furon reports.

"_Very well!" _Artanis responds, pleased with the fact that his warriors had fought well and were winning the battle, _"Inform our warriors at the front to prepare to push into the enemy's forward base after we had defeated the enemy's army. Their defences in their base should have been thinned down after they had sent their army against our strike army's position."_

After listening to their hierarch's words, all the occupants in the control bridge agree with their hierarch are feeling confident that their forces will be eventually victorious against the alien invaders. The enemy may have the advantage of numbers and powerful offensive weapons, they are still no match against the disciplined and well-trained warriors of theirs equipped with the best armour and shield generator for optimum protection.

However, the optimism does not stay for long...

"_Hierarch, we've detected a new large warp signature originating from the enemy's base! Judging by the magnitude of the signature , it appears that the enemy has warped-in something huge onto this planet!"_

Intrigued by Furon's words, Zeratul decides to ask, _"How big do you think it is, Furon?"_

"_By estimate, the unknown object the Scrin had just summoned in would be most likely the size of one of our Nexus, but the signal is moving towards the location of our strike army; this has to be some kind of a gigantic war machine of some sort!"_

Artanis, Zeratul and the advisors do not like the sound of this; a massive Nexus-sized war machine heading towards their strike army in the frontlines! Things are going to get ugly...

* * *

(Back at the Protoss strike army expansion site...)

Necross beheads another Shock Trooper with his warp blade, as another Dark Templar beside him does the same to a Ravager. So far, the strike army is winning against the Scrin counter-assault. Although they have suffered heavy losses as well, Necross believes that the number of warriors left after this battle would be still enough to attack and cripple the enemy's forward base. After they have disposed of these aliens, they will launch another full frontal assault against the enemy base.

Suddenly, tremors can be felt along the ground, as if something huge is approaching. Necross turns around to find another wave of Scrin approaching their base. However, this time, he has been shocked beyond words of what he has just seen in his eyes...

Approaching the expansion site is are several Annihilator Tripods, accompanied by several more Corrupters and Seekers. However, one thing stands out among this Scrin armour column; one that grabs the attention of all the Protoss forces in this army.

Situated right in the middle of this Scrin formation, stands a massive bug-shaped hexapod walker. Covered with dark purple and silver metallic armour, the hexapod stands almost as tall as a Nexus, with its enormous crown-shaped head that covers about a quarter to a third of the walker's full body mass. On the joints of each 6 massive metallic insect-like legs, a weapon system can be seen connected on each joint; 2 Shock Trooper-shaped heads on the front pair of legs, 2 clusters of Ichor shards on the middle pair, and 2 generators that release pulses of healing wavelengths on the rear pair (1). Beneath the massive bug-shaped creature, numerous prehensile tendrils can be seen dangling underneath at the belly of this 'beast'.

A large purple optic stares at the Protoss forces, before the Eradicator rears up, spreads out its front pair of legs and gives out a deafening machine-like roar.

"_What... in the name of Adun... is... THAT?"_ one of the Zealots standing beside Necross shouts out, obviously freaked out by the sheer size of the Eradicator.

Necross is speechless; his leaders have never mentioned that their enemies would have some kind of monstrosity like this. Whatever this creature, it stands even larger than an Ultralisk; so how are they going to defeat this thing?

The robotic Colossi, less affected by the fear induced by the Eradicator, are the first to act. Activating their weapon systems, the Colossi strafe the massive Scrin war machine with their thermal lances. The red hot beams of thermal energy strike their target, but surprisingly leave little damage to the Eradicator. In response to the Colossi attacks, the Scrin escorts begin to retaliate by firing their respective weapons.

The Eradicator also waste no time to act, by spitting out globs of plasma discs at the Protoss warriors standing in front of it. At the same time, smaller volleys of plasma discs are launched from the joints of the front pair of legs; while shards of Ichor crystals are launched from the middle pair. The plasma discs bombard everything standing in front of it, blasting Protoss warriors off from their feet. Some of them even fall as they vanish into blue wisps of flames. Stalkers and Immortals that try to block the path of the Eradicator with their own bodies only end up as smashed pile of metal, stepped over and crushed by the giant legs. As the Eradicator destroys everything in its path, the tendrils situated below it begin to extend downwards and start collecting the remains of the fallen Protoss warriors and machine parts.

Realising that they have to destroy this thing if they want to win this war, all the Protoss warriors finally decide to act and focus their targets against this giant killing machine. All sorts of Protoss weaponry have been thrown against this behemoth, but the Eradicator simply absorb the damage like nothing. With Assimilator garrisoned within its rear pair of legs, all battle wounds are regenerated, which is further enhanced by Corrupters spraying liquid Ichor at their main powerhouse. To the Protoss forces, the Eradicator is like a huge walking fortress armed to the teeth. To make matters worse, the escorts of tripods are also causing more casualties, as Zealots, Stalkers and even Archons and Colossi are slowly picked off by the smaller 3-legged killing machines. Phoenixes and Scouts try to fly in and support the ground troops, only to find themselves getting shot down by Scrin Seekers.

After a brief minutes of accessing the situation, Necross realises that there is no way for their forces to win this skirmish unless they destroy the Nexus-sized walking fortress. If direct assault does not work, perhaps a sneak attack does. Not going to waste anymore time, Necross rallies all remaining Dark Templar and attempt to approach the giant insect-like object. He believes that if they can get into close range with the Eradicator, they may be able to climb up onto the machine and repeatedly hack at the leg joints with their warp blades to cripple the machine; or they can climb all the way to the face and deliver blow to the optic to at least blind the monster, before slashing their way to the brain or its whatever main control terminal. Though, they will have to beware of its giant legs, as a single stomp can easily crush any one of them.

Unfortunately, Necross and his Dark Templar brethren have forgotten about the Seeker escorts surrounding the Eradicator. While the Eradicator may be blind to the cloaking fields projected by the Dark Templar, the Seekers are not fooled by these. The advanced sensory equipment of the Seekers immediately track down the approaching Dark Templar, and quickly transmit signals to warn the other Scrin. In a short lapse of time, the Eradicator has been made aware of the Dark Templar approach and Ichor shards are launched upon the shadowy warriors. Some of the supporting Corrupters also join in to help the Eradicator by turning around and spray their toxic payload at the cloaked assassins. Not expecting themselves to be discovered and attacked, Necross and his Dark Templar brethren are caught off guard and most find themselves either liquefied by the liquid Ichor spray of impaled by Ichor shards.

Trying to ignore the fact that his comrades are dying beside him, Necross makes a mad dash towards the Eradicator, dodging raining shards of Ichor crystals. Just as he is about to reach up to the left front leg of the Eradicator, Necross makes a huge leap, clinging onto the leg for his dear life. Just then, one Ichor shard strikes hard against his plasma shield, stripping away his first layer of protection. As he climbs higher up for the leg joint, smaller plasma discs are launched towards him, grazing his armour and wounding him in some certain parts. Although injured with blue blood flowing, the elite Dark Templar perseveres, and finally reaches upon his target. Reaching towards the joint where heads of Scrin Shock Troopers are mounted, Necross unleashes his warp blade and stabs repeatedly into the joint, spewing green circuit sparks. Machine-like screams of pain can be heard as the Eradicator stops right in its track, wobbles a bit as it suffers from some crippling blows at its left front leg. Knowing that his tactic is working, Necross continues to slash at the wounded joint. In his desperate act to cripple the giant walker, Necross focuses all his attention at the area where he is attacking, unaware of other potential dangers nearby, until it is too late...

Suddenly, Necross jerks forward, his eyes widened. Painfully, he turns his head downwards, only to find 2 green Ichor shards impaling him through his chest. With the emergency teleportation device broken by the crystal shards, Necross knows that there is only one fate awaiting for him: death!

"_I... I'mmm... sor... rrryyy... pre...laaattteee... I... I'vvveee... faaaiiillleeeddd... yooouuu... urrrggghhh... ..."_

In his last dying breath, the valiant warrior falls off from his perch, when a tendril grabs his body and drags it into the belly of the beast that he had been trying to kill.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_Hierarch, our forces are overwhelmed by the Scrin super walker! It is going to be a matter of time before the expansion site would be overrun by the enemy forces!"_ Furon reports frantically.

Zeratul, knowing that the plan to make a pre-emptive strike against the Scrin's main forward base has already failed, makes a suggestion to Artanis, _"The enemy has already known that we are there and they are close to defeating our strike army. Unless we can devise a way to quickly destroy that Scrin super walker, our forces out there will stand no chance to the enemy! We have no choice but to pull our brothers back to here!"_

Artanis grimaces at Zeratul's suggestion, but he knows that the seasoned Dark Prelate does make a point and he has to admit that right now he has not thought up of any countermeasures against the massive Scrin war machine and its heavily-armoured escorts. If this battle goes on, total annihilation of the ground troops would be inevitable. The loss of even more warriors would not be favourable to the Protoss cause, especially when they still have to engage with Kerrigan's Zerg Swarm in a long-term war. He has to pull back his forces if he needs any extra hands available in the future.

"_And retreat we shall! Inform all units at the strike army expansion site to board the Warp Prisms and prepare to retreat back to forward base immediately!"_

With the decision made to pull back the remnants of the failed strike army, Artanis and the other commanders are about to settle down and discuss their next plan to combat the Scrin when a High Templar initiate rushes into the bridge and informs a new dire news,

"_I apologise for interrupting your meeting, hierarch, but our Observers had just detected a massive fleet of what appears to be Scrin ships approaching our base!"_

"_WHAT?"_

All the commanders are shocked; the previous assault against the Scrin forward base had not indicated any presence of massive numbers of ships in the vicinity. So where do those ships come from?

"_All units in the base, prepare to defend the camp at all costs! All ships, prepare to battle!"_

* * *

(The sky above the Protoss Expeditionary Camp forward base...)

The 2 Protoss Motherships, _Aiuron _and _Shield of Aiur_, alongside with several Carriers, Void Rays as well as dozens of Phoenix and Scout fighters, hover high up in the sky directly above the Protoss Expeditionary Camp forward base, ready to take on the incoming fleet of what seems to be a massive fleet of Scrin warships.

Inside the control bridge of _Shield of Aiur_, the commanders are able to see the specks of dark purple and silver objects over the horizon. On a closer look, the commanders realise that the specks are made up of dozens of Scrin fighters, accompanied by about a dozen lobster-shaped anti-surface warships and about 10 larger elongated stag beetle-shaped ships. Although the newly observed ships are not as large as any one of their Motherships, their sizes mean that they may be able to match up to any one of their Carriers if these new ships have anti-air weaponry. With 2 Motherships at their side, the Protoss fleet may have the edge in the quality. However, once again, the enemy fleet has the advantage of numbers.

The Scrin ships approaches the base, as the Protoss fleet braces themselves for an inevitable battle. Then, to the puzzlement of the Protoss commanders, the enemy ships stop their advance just beyond the range of their ship weaponry.

"_They'd... stopped?"_ Artanis is confused. The enemy fleet has the numbers to directly engage their fleet and possibly win; so why do they stop their advance? Perhaps they are still not confident in defeating the might of 2 Motherships? Or perhaps they are waiting for something else?

Unknown to the Protoss fleet, their defeat is close...

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

"**FOREMAN, OUR SHIPS ARE NOW IN POSITION, READY TO ATTACK ON YOUR COMMAND..."**

"**What about the enemy expansion?" **Foreman 371 asks.

"**ENEMY OUTPOST STATUS: DESTROYED... ALL THEIR GROUND UNITS HAD RETREATED BACK TO THEIR FORWARD BASE... THE ERADICATOR HAD BEEN REPAIRED BACK TO FULL OPERATIONAL STATUS..." **the Mothership AI replies.

"**Good! Get the Eradicator ready; we'll need it again to fully destroy the Protoss base."**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED... RIFT GENERATOR READY!"**

"**Finally! I've been waiting for this moment! Mothership, direct the Rift at the middle of the enemy base! After the Rift has faded, order all ships to attack! Prepare a new wormhole to direct the assault of our ground troops into the enemy base as our ships engage the enemy!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED... SELECT TARGET... WARNING: RIFT GENERATOR ACTIVATED..."**

* * *

(Back at the sky above the Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base...)

The Protoss ships brace themselves for a possible engagement against an opposing Scrin fleet just beyond their maximum striking distance. They are all about to get into another intense battle if not the fact that the Scrin ships have yet to fire the first shot. It is as if they are waiting for something first.

Suddenly, without warning, a Rift is formed at the middle of the Protoss forward base, just right above the Nexus and at one side of the Protoss fleet.

* * *

(Inside _Shield of Aiur_ control bridge...)

"_Hierarch; we've detected a new warp rift opening just right above our base..."_

"_That's not a warp rift... it's a portal that connects this place directly to deep space!" _Zeratul realises, _"That rift would create a vacuum that sucks in and destroys anything in its vicinity! All units; get away from that rift as far as possible!"_

"_Hierarch; plasma shield reading of Shield of Aiur is dropping; the ship is under attack!"_ Furon notifies the rest of the commanders.

"_Direct all power to the ship's engines; we must get away from that rift as far away as possible!"_ Artanis relays his orders, _"Where does that rift comes from? It's impossible for it to form in the middle of nowhere!"_

"_Hierarch; before the appearance of that rift in the sky, our sensors have detected huge fluctuations in warp signature readings back inside the enemy forward base, and it originates from the site where the abnormal gathering of warp signature has been detected earlier. Based on the readings of our sensors, the moment before the rift has been formed, the warp energies gathered there have been suddenly released."_ Furon explains as he looks into the ship's sensor readings.

"_I see... the Scrin must have a special device that can open and generate rifts that connect a certain area into deep space as a form of weapon of mass destruction..."_ Zeratul comments, _"I think we have severely underestimated our enemies..."_

* * *

(Back outside _Shield of Aiur..._)

The effect of the Rift opened just right in the middle of the Protoss base is instantaneous...

Within seconds, air and dirt is instantly sucked into the deep space-connected portal, dragging many unfortunate Probes, warriors and even smaller structures such as Pylons and Photon Cannons into the portal of doom as well. The intense pressure change created by the Rift also starts to crush the larger structures as well, including the Nexus itself. Even with the brief protection by their plasma shields, the shielding provided are unfortunately not strong enough to protect the Protoss victims from the effects of a phenomenon that bears similarity to a cosmic blackhole.

The Protoss ships that have been flying too close to the Rift are instantly dragged into the Rift itself, causing the smaller Phoenix and Scout fighters to either lose control and crash or get crushed and engulfed by the Rift itself. The immense pressure difference generated by the Rift also crushes through the plasma shield of the larger ships and dents the hull of these ships. A few of the Void Rays that have been flying closest to the Rift have been crushed into oblivion, with the broken fragments of the ships themselves been thrown back into the deep space.

After about 10 seconds the Rift has been formed, it has closed up, leaving the sky as a whole again. However, during the brief seconds of its existence, it has left a scene of carnage in the Protoss base.

Nearly all of the ground units present in the base have been lost, as well as half of the total number of Pylons and stationary turrets. Not a single Probe can be found. About half of all the fighters have been lost, as well as a few Void Rays. The other ships have been heavily damaged with their plasma shields and hull compromised, including the 2 Motherships, _Aiuron _and _Shield of Aiur_.

Before the Protoss forces can recover from the sudden Rift disaster, the Scrin ships, which had been waiting from a distance away, begin to strike...

Stormriders fly in and start to shoot at the damaged Protoss ships, while Devastators begin to rain plasma discs at the crippled base.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur_ control bridge...)

The occupants of the _Shield of Aiur _control bridge are recovering from the series of jolts and vigorous shakings that take place when the Rift was opened. Just as the ship had finally begun to stabilise itself, they received more dire news...

The Scrin fleet had finally made their move. The enemy fighters had started shooting and picking off the badly damaged Protoss ships and fighters, while the enemy lobster-shaped warships had begun bombarding the base with their main cannons.

"_Activate the cloaking fields; direct all energy to the weapon systems; inform all ships to engage the enemy!"_ Artanis barks out.

* * *

(Back outside...)

A burst energy is released from the 2 Motherships, as the cloaking fields are activated, covering all the surrounding Protoss in an invisible shroud. This allows the damaged ships to have a brief moment of recovery after the Rift incident away from the Stormrider harassment, before they can ready to counter-attack. Soon enough, without a visible target other than the 2 Motherships, the Stormriders have been forced to direct their fire onto the 2 massive capital ships, while the Devastators are sitting idle. Despite getting under fire by the Stormriders, the heavy armour of the Motherships easily shrug off the disruptor cannon shots; whereas the Stormriders are getting shredded one by one due to the purification beams and other anti-air weapon systems by surrounding cloaked Protoss units.

However, the Scrin have been well-prepared for a situation like this. When the Stormriders are getting under heavy fire from the enemy, the Planetary Assault Carriers finally make their move. As the massive elongated ships approach the Protoss ships, their advanced sensors easily detect the hidden Protoss ships and ground assets, allowing these capital ships to transmit the target coordinates to their allied ships. Soon enough, the Stormriders and Devastators resume their attacks again.

Not only does the Scrin PACs root out the hidden units, they begin to unleash their own assaults by releasing their deadly cargoes of Invader-class interceptors, which begin to systematically shoot down the previously heavily damaged Protoss ships. At the same time, some of the PACs begin to generate localised ion storms right in the middle of the Protoss base, giving essential energy and regeneration boost to the Scrin ships.

Phoenixes and Scouts and getting shot down by ion storm-enhanced Stormriders; Interceptors of both sides are exchanging fire with each other; Void Rays and Carriers are getting torn apart by the ion storm and interceptors from the enemy side; the Scrin ships are thriving under the generated localised ion storm.

The current trend of battle is not shifting towards the favour of the Protoss...

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur _control bridge...)

"_By the ancestors, there are carriers in the enemy fleet!"_ Furon exclaims, _"And somehow when these enemy carriers approach, our cloaked units have been exposed to enemy fire once again! These carriers must also have functioned as detectors too!"_

"_And not just that... they have the ability to generate the abnormal lighting storms like those towers!"_ Zeratul voices out his own observation.

"_We'll losing too much forces to the enemy fleet; these enemy carriers are crucial to turn the tide of battle to their favour! All ships; concentrate all your fire against the enemy carriers!"_ Artanis commands.

Just then, the AI of _Shield of Aiur_ sounds out another warning,

"_WARNING: WORMHOLE DETECTED!"_

"_Another wormhole?"_

"_This is getting worse..."_

* * *

(Back outside... a scene of carnage...)

The fabric of time-space is ripped open as a wormhole opens right in the middle of the Protoss base, with numerous Disintegrators, Shock Troopers, Ravagers, Gun Walkers, Seekers, Devourer Tanks, Mechapedes, and Corrupters exiting out from the wormhole. As soon as these Scrin surface units emerge, they waste no time in laying waste of the Protoss structures surrounding them. Those that can target aerial units also start to do perform their roles of anti-air, shooting down more injured Protoss ships in the process.

Before the wormhole closes, another Mastermind unit exits out from the wormhole. During the chaos of battle, the Mastermind quickly summons in the Eradicator and 2 Annihilator Tripods. Upon its arrival the Eradicator bellows out a machine-like roar before devastating the Protoss ground forces with its multiple weapons.

Across the devastated Protoss base, numerous remains of Protoss war machines and a few bodies of fallen Protoss warriors can be seen lying across the battlefield. Although there are some remains of Scrin infantries and war machines too, these are fewer in numbers compared to the Protoss. As the destruction continues, the Eradicator continues to salvage the remains of its fallen enemies with its numerous tendrils.

* * *

(Back inside the Drone Platform...)

Foreman 371 is relieved that his plans for a coordinated strike between his gathered fleet at Outpost 333 and the Rift attack had worked very well. With the fleet over the enemy base, he is able to get a visual of the base, enabling him to open another wormhole that will bring in more ground troops to stage an assault against the heavily compromised Protoss base and fleet. To further "rub salt on the opponent's open wounds", he had another Mastermind unit sent across the wormhole, which would proceed to summon the Eradicator right into the enemy base.

Just then, the Mothership AI makes a major announcement,

"**FOREMAN; THRESHOLD TOWER ASSEMBLY WOULD BE COMPLETED IN... T-MINUS 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... THRESHOLD TOWER ASSEMBLY COMPLETE, INITIATING GATEWAY SETTING SEQUENCE... STANDBY... GATEWAY SEQUENCE SET... POWER LEVELS: NORMAL... ESTABLSHING GATEWAY CONNECTION TO MAIN ARMADA... STANDBY... GATEWAY CONNECTION TO MAIN ARMADA ESTABLISHED... INITIATING WARP-IN OF ARMADA... ALERT: FIRST REINFORCEMENTS, THE REAPER-17 CASTE, WARPING-IN IN PROGRESS... STANDBY..."**

Foreman 371 is truly relieved; he has accomplished his primary objective of completing the assembly of the first Threshold Tower on this planet, which would be vital in summoning in the rest of the Scrin armada to conquer this planet and remove all threats that will jeopardise their harvesting operations on this planet. Just then, the holographic image of the Supervisor flashes and appears right in front of his command interface,

"_**Excellent work, Foreman 371! With our first Threshold Tower assembly complete, we can finally initiate the warp-in of our entire armada onto this planet... victory is in our hands!"**_

* * *

(Inside the Scrin forward base...)

The completed Scrin Threshold Tower starts to rumble into life, as purple and violet lights start to glow around the massive triple-helix tower. Then, without warning, 3 bright beams of purple light spiral off into the sky, creating a pillar of triple-helix light beam. Then, the space within the triple-helix tower of the Threshold Tower gives off a very bright whitish glow. Within the glow, massive numbers of Scrin ships and war machines emerge out from the Threshold Tower like exiting from a giant portal.

The connection established between this planet and the rest of the armada is successful, and the summoning of the Scrin armada is finally under way. Soon, they will fulfil a feat that they should have done back in the Solar System more than 400 years ago.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur_ control bridge...)

The occupants inside the control bridge all tense up as they sense a massive influx of warp energy signature in the area. It is as if a colossal portal had been opened on this planet; big enough to warp-in an entire army from another world.

"_Hierarch; we've detected an astronomical magnitude of warp signature in the area! The readings matched to those originated from the unknown tower that the Scrin had been constructing in their forward base!"_ Furon reports frantically.

"_Everyone; look!"_ Zeratul points out to the pillar of triple-helix beam of light that has been shot into the sky from a distance away, which appears to be originating from the direction where the massive Scrin tower was located in.

For Artanis, it seems obvious that whatever the Scrin has been planning to do with the giant tower that they had spent the entire time assembling, they have succeeded. Also, it has answered the question of what that giant tower is used for, although to them this answer has arrived too late.

"_Hierarch; we've detected large numbers of Scrin ships and war machines emerging out from that tower, and the numbers are still rising! If this rate carries on, we'll be severely outnumbered and cut-off from escape away from this world!"_ a High Templar advisor alerts all the occupants in this bridge about their current dire situation.

Artanis does not like what is going on right now, but he has to admit it... they have lost this battle.

"_This battle is lost..."_ Artanis announces to everyone in the bridge, _"although we've lost this battle, that doesn't mean we have lost this war! As long as we still stand, we will always return and defeat these new threats of Ichor, the mutants and the Scrin! As long as we still live, we will fight on till the very last warrior! We will one day return and drive off the Scrin and their accursed Ichor away from this sector and we will triumph! We will once again bring back the order of this universe!"_

The other commanders in this bridge feel downtrodden from the news of defeat initially, but their spirits are slightly lifted up as Artanis tries to convince them that they will one day return and take their revenge of this humiliating defeat back to the Scrin. Then Artanis continues his speech,

"_We will return here one day and regain back our honour; but right now, we must evacuate all what has remained of this fleet away from this planet! All forces; prepare for a full-scale evacuation from this planet!"_

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Wrath of the Locusts: Assimilation

The Protoss have been defeated, and they are now retreating their forces away from the now Ichor-infested world of Mar Sara. Meanwhile, the victorious Scrin forces gather up their fleets and prepare to assimilate whatever remains of their defeated enemies into part of their own arsenal.

* * *

(1) This Eradicator is garrisoned by 1 Shock Trooper, 1 Ravager and 1 Assimilator.

* * *

Annihilator Tripod vs. Colossus

This section merely covers about my own personal view on the topic of who would win if a Scrin Annihilator Tripod squares off against a Protoss Colossus. As both units look quite similar in shape and fill up the similar role of being heavy ground assault unit of their respective side, I think it would be quite interesting to compare these 2 towering machines.

**Tripod:**

The Annihilator is currently one of Scrin largest and heaviest known war machine on land, only to be outsized by the Eradicator. Although EA has not mentioned its exact size, it is known to be huge and heavy enough to crush any human main battle tanks during the Third Tib War period (other than GDI's Mammoth Tank) under its legs. It has enough firepower and armour to engage a Third Tib War era Mammoth Tank or Avatar in a direct-frontal assault. Armed with 3 proton beam cannons with each mounted on a prehensile head-mounted tentacle, an Annihilator is able to engage up to 3 enemy units at the same time, though it is only able to use a maximum of 2 cannons to focus against a single target. Another weapon included under its arsenal is a short range EMP generator which can easily disable any vehicles or structures, although it suffers from a very short range and it requires the target to be standing directly next to the tripod for the EMP attack to work. Even if a tripod does fall in battle, an Assimilator would easily reactivate its husk, if the husk is intact and the Assimilator is able to safely reach towards the husk in the midst of battle.

**Colossus:**

This fabled war machine is the only Protoss robot designed specifically for war. It is known to be so huge and so tall that it can step over any points of elevation such as cliffs as easily as walking up a staircase, and it can be targeted by anti-air weapon systems due to its sheer height alone. Its only known weapons are its twin thermal lances, which work by cutting a swath of destruction in a criss-cross manner, making it a deadly weapon against infantry lines or large and bulky enemies such as Terran Thor. Its weapons also cover a very long range, thanks to its height. Like all other Protoss units, the Colossus is protected by a powerful plasma shield. However, compared to other heavy ground assault units of other factions, the Colossus is quite vulnerable for a unit of its size if the shields are depleted, as it is unable to withstand too much hits from other heavy assault units.

**Comparison**

Although both machines are large and tall, it is pretty obvious that the Colossus would have outsized the tripod (due to the fact that a Colossus can be targeted by anti-air weapons and it can easily step over cliffs). With height advantage, the Colossus would have also easily outranged the tripod, earning itself the first shot should the 2 walkers engage. Even if the tripod manage to get within striking distance of its proton beam cannons, it would have to first deal with the plasma shields. One point to take note though, is that the Colossus' twin thermal lance would not be able to damage a tripod in the most efficient manner, since though the tripod is large and tall, it is also shielded with less powerful Scrin forcefield generator and it does not have a wide, bulky profile unlike the Terran Siege Tanks or Thor. (Imagine this: it would be much easier to cut a round pie with 2 cross-chopping knives, compared to doing the same action on an upright flower stalk.)

However, if the tripod is able to get very close to the Colossus, it would be able to use its EMP pulse against the Protoss walker. If an EMP attack does hit, the Colossus would either lose its plasma shield protection or worse, fully disabled and becomes immobile, making it vulnerable to the tripod's further assaults. Unlike its Scrin counterpart, the Colossus is more suited for taking out its enemies from long range using its height advantage, not engaging other heavies in a slugging match. The tripod is better suited in this role, as although it does not have a powerful shield, it does have a strong armour that can allow it to absorb railgun shots after railgun shots without falling. Although the Colossus can avoid such situation by moving away from the advancing tripod, it would still make itself vulnerable as unlike the tripod, it cannot fire on the move. The only way for the Colossus to counter this tactic is for it to find a higher ground and use the high grounds to its full advantage. For example, a Colossus can step over and stop on top of a small plateau, avoiding the dangerous short-range EMP pulse while striking at the tripod continuously from a longer distance with its twin thermal lances.

Tripod's edges: 

Armour

EMP pulse

Chance to be reactivated if Assimilator enters fallen husk

Able to fire on the move

Able to target up to 3 targets at the same time from any directions

Colossus' edges:

Size and height

Weapon range

Area of effect damage

Able to walk over any elevating terrains to gain high grounds

**Conclusion**

Tripod wins if: 

In a small number fight in an open battlefield, and if the tripod gets close enough to unleash its EMP pulse against the Colossus.

Colossus wins if:

In a large-scale clustered battle, filled with terrains of alternating elevations such hills, gorges and valleys.

* * *

There will be one more chapter before the "Scrin mini-campaign" in this part of the story ends. Note that the section on tripod vs. Colossus is purely based on my own personal speculation, so flamings will not be welcomed.

Oh, and please review whether if you like this "Annihilator vs. Colossus" section and whether you want to have anymore sections of these "unit versus" extras after each of my chapters.

Stay tuned!


	20. Act 19:Wrath of the Locusts:Assimilation

And here comes the final part of the Scrin "mini-campaign".

To SulliMike23: The Scrin would make huge impacts in the second part of the trilogy. So as for whether they will find Kane and Nod, the answer would have to wait first.

To MegaAuthor: Thanks for your long compliment so much! I appreciate it!

To Robo Reader 21: For your question of why the Terrans know nothing about the Brotherhood despite having historical archives in the ships that brought them to this sector, my answer is that don't forget a lot of things had happened back on Earth in the timeline between the end of 4th Tib War and the arrival of Terrans at the Koprulu Sector. It is during this intermediate timeline that something drastic had occurred, which would result in a series of events that lead to Tiberium and the Brotherhood of Nod being forgotten.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

BUILDING CAPTURED... NEW CONSTRUCTION OPTIONS!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 19: WRATH OF THE LOCUSTS: ASSIMILATION**

(Sky above Protoss Expeditionary Fleet forward base... Mar Sara...)

(Inside _Shield of Aiur_ control bridge...)

"_All forces; prepare to evacuate back into your ships! We must jump into warp space before the Scrin overruns us!"_ Artanis orders to all what have remained of the expeditionary fleet.

"_Hierarch; the enemy fleet is trying to surround us! We don't have much time!"_ Furon informs Artanis frantically.

"_We still have many brothers on the ground who have yet to evacuate back to their ships..."_ Zeratul comments, _"we have to halt the Scrin's movements if we want to let everyone to escape safely from this world!"_

Artanis considers for a moment, before thinking up of a solution that may enable him to save more lives, _"Inform all crew in Aiuron and in this ship to channel all powers to create Vortex on the enemy forces!"_

"_It shall be done!"_

* * *

(Back outside...)

The remaining Zealots and Templar are frantically trying to board the Warp Prisms in order to escape from the pursuit of the Scrin army, especially from the giant Eradicator. The forward base is now left in ruins, so there is nothing left for them to stay and fight on. Although some of them wish to retain their honour by staying and fighting till the end, the hierarch has forbidden them to do so, stating that he needs them to fight for another day and they had already performed a brilliant job to hold off the Scrin assault for this long. They had their honour of being the first of their kind to engage and survive the conflict against this new foe, so there is no need for them to stay and redeem themselves and dying in a losing combat against these Scrin forces.

However, trying to evacuate from the base in the middle of an enemy assault is much more difficult than it seems. Not only their Scrin foes shooting at them as they flee, many of the Warp Prisms are also under attack, making their escape even more hazardous. Already, some of the warriors that manage to get themselves into Warp Prisms had ended up getting perished when their Warp Prisms got shot down in mid-air by Stormriders.

Just when it seems all hope is lost, the fabric of time-space has been ripped in the middle of the devastated Protoss base again. However, this time, 2 gravity vortexes have been formed instead of a single rift that connects to deep space, and these are targeted against the Scrin forces. In order to facilitate the evacuation of their remaining ground troops, the 2 Motherships had decided to create Vortexes in order to significantly halt the Scrin advance... and it works!

With not just one, but two Vortexes taking place, the large Scrin army and even several ships had been immediately trapped in the prison of distorted gravity, vanishing from the existing plane by getting sucked into the gravity vortexes. The effects of the gravitational pull of the vortexes are so strong, that even the mighty Eradicator is finding itself slowly dragged by these intense vortexes of gravity.

With most of the assaulting Scrin forces pinned down by the Vortexes, the remaining Protoss ground troops waste no time in boarding their transports and retreating back to their ships. They know that these Vortexes can only hold these Scrin for a short period of time, and they know that the Vortexes would eventually lose power and the Scrin forces would be warped back to this plane of existence. They have to act fast now!

Finally, with the last Zealot boarding on a Warp Prism, the evacuation is complete. Just at the nick of time, the Vortexes had lost their power, releasing the imprisoned Scrin forces from their temporary prison.

* * *

(Back inside _Shield of Aiur_ control bridge...)

"_Hierarch; the last warrior had successfully evacuated from the base! We are ready to jump into warp space!"_ Furon informs Artanis that the fleet is prepared for leaving this planet.

"_And we must hurry; the Scrin forces had escaped from the Vortexes!"_ Zeratul reminds.

"_Indeed! Inform all ships to activate their warp drives and jump into warp space... NOW!"_ Artanis commands.

* * *

(Back outside...)

The Scrin forces, just released from their Vortex prison, are still recovering from their temporary imprisonment in some kind of vortex of gravitational pull, when they realise that the enemy has pulled back their entire ground forces. Before they can respond and surround the enemy ships, their prey had apparently opened a rift into the warp space, and jumped into it. It is clear that the enemy fleet had managed to escape from their full wrath with a sizeable force and avoid total annihilation.

Nevertheless, this battle has been won for the Scrin.

* * *

(Inside Scrin forward base Drone Platform...)

"**FOREMAN; THE PROTOSS FORCES HAD JUST ESCAPED THROUGH WARP SPACE BEFORE OUR FORCES CAN SURROUND AND ANNIHILATE THEM. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO TRACK THEIR CURRENT LOCATION NOW, BUT IT IS CONFIRMED THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER PRESENT AROUND THIS PLANET. HOWEVER, THE PROTOSS HAD LEFT THE REMAINS OF THEIR BASE WITH MOST EQUIPMENT DAMAGED BUT STILL IN THE SUITABLE CONDITION FOR ASSIMILATION. THE ERADICATOR HAD ALSO COLLECTED SIZEABLE AMOUNT OF PROTOSS REMAINS FOR FURTHER STUDIES."**

Foreman 371 likes to hear the good news transmitted by his Mothership AI, although it is quite a shame that they had failed to completely destroy the Protoss forces. Nevertheless, they had won this battle and they had enough research materials to study these leftover Protoss equipment; and hopefully, assimilate these technologies into their own. During his battle against these new Protoss foes, he had taken interest with these technologies, especially their shield technology which is apparently more advanced than theirs. If they can be able to get hold of these technologies, they would be able to finally make an overall military hardware upgrade, which had not occurred for more than 400 Earth years due to the race-wide stasis resulted by the Ichor-shortage crisis experienced by the entire Scrin race.

"**So, are there anymore indigenous species present on this planet that may threaten our harvesting operations?"**the Foreman asks.

"**NEGATIVE, FOREMAN! SCANS HAVE DETECTED THE PRESENCE OF SMALL POCKETS OF POPULATIONS OF THE HIVE-MINDED INDIGENOUS SPECIES KNOWN BY THE PROTOSS AS THE ZERGS THAT HAD BEEN FULLY ASSIMILATED WITH ICHOR SPREAD ACROSS THIS PLANET. HOWEVER, SCAN RESULTS HAVE ALSO INDICATED THAT THESE ICHOR-ASSIMILATED ZERGS ARE DISORGANISED, EVEN THOUGH THEIR NUMBERS ARE GRADUALLY INCREASING. PRODIGIES FROM THE TRAVELLER CULTS HAVE INFORMED THAT THESE ZERGS NO LONGER SHARE THE SAME PSYCHIC COMMUNICATION LINKS WITH THEIR PROGENITORS. THEY CAN BE CONSIDERED NO MORE THAN WILD INDIGENOUS SPECIES OF THREAT LEVEL 1. OVERALL CONCLUSION SHOWS THAT THIS PLANET IS OFFICIALLY CONQUERED AND THE ICHOR ON THIS PLANET IS READY FOR SAFE HARVESTING. CONGRATULATIONS FOREMAN, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"**

With the announcement of a successful military campaign on this planet, Foreman 371 is relieved that he has not failed the Overlord, and had successfully avoided the tragedy which had occurred more than 400 years ago on Earth.

However, the Supervisor does not seem to be as satisfied as Foreman 371, as his holographic projection suddenly cuts-in in front of the foreman's command interface,

"_**This operation is still not yet considered a success, Foreman 371! The escape of the Protoss would indicate a probability of their return and hence a probability of a retaliatory counter-assault in the near future!" **_the Supervisor reprimands, _**"Also, we must not forget about the Zergs present on this planet! Threat level 1 does not mean it is no threat, so we must not take these creatures lightly even if they are disorganised! We must neutralise this threat before they can..."**_

Before the Supervisor can finish his words, the voice of the Scrin Overlord suddenly cuts-in in the midst of the conversation,

"_**Hold it, Supervisor 11! If it is true that these Ichor-assimilated Zergs are not organised as a unified fighting force, I believe that their threat to our harvesting operations would be negligible if we can round them up and put them on a leash before they can unify themselves. We have the Traveller cults accompanying us in this operation, so we have the means to take control of them before they can become a proper threat. We have witnessed that these Zergs can become a formidable fighting force if they are to fight as an organised unit, so if we can gain control of these Ichor-assimilated Zergs, we will gain ourselves a powerful tool for war."**_

"_**So mighty Overlord, are you suggesting that we should control these Zergs rather than destroying them?" **_the Supervisor asks.

"_**That's right, Supervisor 11! These species have not become a significant threat to our operations because they have yet to have a central figure rounding them up as a unified force. If we are the ones to fill up this role, we will gain ourselves a powerful ally instead of wasting our precious resources in eliminating another threat. We need the resources on this planet to upgrade our military hardware and prepare the planet-wide harvesting operation on this planet. If the Protoss would to return, we'll crush them with the full might of our improved military hardware and our new-found pets!"**_ the Overlord replies.

"_**That's brilliant, o' mighty Overlord! We will carry out what you have suggested!"**_

"_**So it's decided! Order the Traveller cults to search for the hive clusters of these Ichor-assimilated Zergs and tell them to plant Prodigies and Cultist parasites onto their core hive structures so that we can control all these creatures! As for you Foreman 371, I have another task for you..."**_

Now that piques Foreman 371's interest, it is rare for the Overlord to personally assign missions to lowly foreman like him. Usually the Overlord would relay the orders to the Supervisors, before the Supervisors announcing the orders to the foremen in the Overlord's name.

"**How can I be of your service, my Overlord?" **Foreman 371 asks.

"_**According to the data about this planet gathered by your Mothership, it has been to my concern that this planet used to be colonised by the humans not too long ago. Now you must be familiar that the reason why we've detected this uncharted planet is due to another premature Ichor-LQ detonation. This phenomenon has only happened once in our entire harvesting operations history, and that is the disastrous Earth operation where we first encountered the humans! I believe that there must be some connections between the existence of Ichor and the premature Ichor-LQ detonation on this planet with the history of this planet being colonised by humans before. I want you to carry a thorough investigation on how this premature Ichor-LQ detonation has occurred."**_

Foreman 371 remains silent; he still remembers his humiliating defeat under the hands of the humans, and how his race had felt enraged when they had learnt that they had been tricked into coming to Earth because of one particular individual known only as Kane, the leader of one of the warring factions on Earth back then known only as the Brotherhood of Nod. It is still a mystery of who and what Kane is; because the data core did contain records of his genetic pattern, but did not have any classifications on his exact species, other than the fact that his genetic profile did not match to those of humans. The only conclusion they can come up with is that Kane is another alien that had somehow gained the trust of a large of group of humans and ends leading these humans as their leader in order to fulfil his own unknown agenda. Just then, the thought of Kane lets Foreman 371 realises what the Overlord is trying to imply.

"**My Overlord, do you believe that this case of premature Ichor-LQ detonation may yet be another trick performed by that individual Kane?"**

"_**Indeed! Although the chance that Kane is still in control after hundreds of years is very slim, there is still such possibility! If it is indeed Kane who has been responsible for luring us to this uncharted world, it will be a rare opportunity for us to investigate more about him and his agenda! Most importantly, I do not want him to sabotage and jeopardise our harvesting operations again!"**_

"**Understood, my Overlord! I would investigate the cause of this premature Ichor-LQ detonation!"**

"_**And don't forget about the ruins of the human civilisations that have been still remaining on this planet too! These ruins may give us clues about whether Kane and his faction of humans are responsible creating the premature Ichor-LQ detonation or not!"**_

"**It shall be done!"**

"**ORDERS ACCEPTED! DEPLOYING ASSIMILATORS TO ALL REMAINS OF HUMAN CIVILISATIONS ACROSS THE PLANET..."**

* * *

(Somewhere in the Koprulu Sector... about 10 light years away from Xil...)

"_Hierarch; we have successfully jumped away from the Terran world of Mar Sara." _Furon reports, _"The star charts have pointed out that our current location would be somewhere about 10 light years away from the nearest planet which is Xil."_

"_Xil?" _Zeratul comments, _"I remembered that that world did hold some Xel'naga relics, but the planet was controlled by the forged ones, the Tal'darim."_

"_Tal'darim?" _Furon expresses his surprise, _"Those rogues have never been good news! Hierarch, I suggest that we must leave this place as quick as possible before the Tal'darim discovers our presence! In our current state, I don't think we are ready to fight off another hostile fleet!"_

"_Indeed! Order all ships to direct all power to their warp drives; we'll be making another jump, this time we'll plot course back to Shakuras!"_ Artanis commands.

Just then, a High Templar initiate barges into the control bridge and reports, _"I apologise for intruding, hierarch, but the comrades manning Aiuron said they had an important news to report to Prelate Zeratul and Executor Furon!"_

"_Patch them in."_

At the Khaydarin crystal terminal of _Shield of Aiur _control bridge, the image of a Protoss captain, who has been commanding the other Mothership _Aiuron_ in the absence of both Furon and Zeratul, appears.

"_So... Templar Abariss, what is the news that you need to inform me and Prelate Zeratul?"_ Furon asks the Protoss image in the Khaydarin crystal terminal.

"_Executor; just a few moments ago, after we'd just warped-in into this location, our sensors detected signatures that matched to those Raynor's ship! We've tracked the signal and came with the conclusion that Raynor's ship is above the orbit of Xil!"_

The mention of Raynor instantly rouses the attention of all commanding Protoss in the bridge, especially Zeratul.

"_Is the signal still persists around Xil?"_ Zeratul asks in concern.

"_Yes, prelate! As we are speaking right now, the signature of Raynor's ship is still in our sensors. We believe that the Hyperion is still orbiting above Xil right now!"_

"_This is an opportunity that we must not miss! Artanis, I have to go now! This is the only chance I have left; I must give friend Raynor these 2 Ihan crystals to warn him the impending doom of this galaxy!"_ Zeratul pleads.

"_But Zeratul, after years of searching, I have finally found you; and I need you to return with me back to Shakuras to unite our people once again to combat against the threat of Zergs, Ichor and Scrin!"_

"_I understand, Artanis, and I promise to you that I will return just as I have promised to Furon. Right now, all I just want to do is to deliver these warnings to our friend Raynor; I believe that if he has learnt about the dark future that lies ahead of us, he would be of huge assistance to our cause in the future! He would be the key to shaping out our new future!"_

"_I trust in your judgement, Zeratul, and I am not objecting the idea of letting you go to deliver these messages; but we must not forget the fact that we are now above Tal'darim airspace! We don't know why Raynor's ship is in Tal'darim's territory, but we know that it is unwise to intrude their territory, with or without permission!"_

"_I know, Artanis, which why it is even more important for me to leave now! It will not take long for Raynor to realise that the Tal'darim are hostile, and he will not be staying long. It is why that I must leave to deliver the messages right now before his ship jumps away into warp space, before we can further track him down! I will be going alone to track and follow Raynor's ship on board of the Void Seeker. If I go alone, the chances that the Tal'darim will discover our presence will be much slimmer."_

Artanis remains silent, considering about Zeratu's words. Indeed that if the future is as grim as what Zeratul has foretold, it will be wiser to allow their potential future allies to learn more about what kind of future they are trying to avoid. If Zeratul is to leave and follow _Hyperion_ by himself, the chances that he will be discovered by the Tal'darim will be much lower compared to sending a whole fleet to follow one ship. Still, he does not wish to risk losing track of Zeratul again; it is not that he does not trust his old-time compatriot, he just does not want to risk any chances.

"_Alright, you may go Zeratul. I will leave Furon and Aiuron with a few ships in this location, so that they will escort you back to Shakuras after you are done with your task. They will also provide backup in case if you fall into any trouble."_

"_Thank you, Artanis! I will return as soon as possible after I have done delivering the message to Raynor! As for now, I hope you will return to Shakuras and try to convince the other tribe leaders to ally and join us in combating the threat of Ichor and Scrin."_

"_I will, Zeratul! May the gods watch over us!"_

* * *

(Back on Mar Sara surface... near a mutant Zerg hive cluster...)

A pack of Mutant Zerglings scurries away from the scene, and they have reasons to get away as far as possible. Out there, in the open, several Corrupters, Shard Walkers, Devourer Tanks, and a trio of Reaper Tripods are destroying every mutants in their paths as they march towards the mutant hive cluster.

This medium-sized force of Reaper-17 cult armoured column has been sent to destroy any mutant Zergs that have been guarding this hive cluster. They have been tasked to remove any oppositions that may hinder the operations of a small group of Traveller cultists that are trying to infiltrate the hive cluster. So far, the resistance they have encountered only consists of a small number of Mutant Zerglings, some Mutant Hydralisks and Mutant Mutalisks, which have been easily dealt with. Seeing how easily the other mutants fell under the might of the Reaper cult war machines, the remaining mutant Zerglings run away from the fight, driven by their own instincts of self-preservation rather than staying on and protecting their hive clusters.

Just then, a series of tremor can be felt by the Reaper amour column, as if something huge is approaching them. One of the Reaper Tripods extend its tentacles high up to look out for the source of tremor. Soon enough, it spots a large rampaging quadruped Ichor-assimilated Zerg charging towards them. Covered with green crystallised carapace and armed with greenish crystallised Kaiser blades and fangs, the Mutant Ultralisk bellows out a roar of rage as it recklessly charges towards the Reaper Tripods in an effort to guard its territory.

* * *

(Inside the mutant hive cluster... Mutant Hive...)

Panic is spreading across the independent mind of the Mutant Hive; for obvious reasons.

Just a few minutes ago, everything was peaceful. It was just busy controlling its spawned minions to expand its hive cluster, while spawning more minions in the intention to spread its kind to beyond this planet. It has no memory of its past before its mutation by the strange green crystals that it had been trying to assimilate, and it has no ultimate goals in its independent mind, other than a primal instinct that is telling it to spread the mark of its newly-born mutant kind across the universe.

Then, at the next moment, it detected danger as one of its spawned Mutant Overlord spotted some strange creatures of varying shapes and sizes marching towards its location. Before it realised that these creatures were hostile, that same Overlord got shot till death by a hail of blue crystal shards launched by one of these 4-legged creature with its back covered by layers of blue crystalline shards.

It has sent all of its available spawned minions in trying to repel off the intruders, but to no avail. The smaller Zerglings, Hydralisks, Roaches and Mutalisks proved no match against these armoured creatures. Still, it was willing to try and defend itself from the oncoming metallic intruders with its more advanced spawned minions. It may have lost its memory of its true purpose before its mutation, it still retained its dormant genetic library of all of the original Zerg strains. With this genetic library, it is able to spawn all kinds of the known common strains of Zergs, with the only difference is the added mutant genes into the spawned strains that would result them to be born as mutant Zergs infested with Ichor.

Just after one of its Mutant Drone had finished its metamorphosis into an Ichor-infested Ultralisk Cavern, the Hive quickly spawned an Ultralisk from one of its mutant Larva. It wanted to spawn more of them, but was unable to do so because of its limited independent psionic mind control over the rest of its minion. Without a powerful psionic figure directing its actions, it could only use its limited psionic powers to mind control a small number of Overlords, which in turn resulted in fewer numbers of minions that it could command.

Back to the present, the Hive panics again when it loses its mental link to the Mutant Ultralisk. From its mental link with its spawned minion, it knows that the last thing the Mutant Ultralisk sees is a multitude of greenish energy beams raining upon it, then a large pointed leg of a 3-legged metallic creature crushes its skull after it collapses onto the ground due to its mortal wounds. With its mightiest minion disposed, the Mutant Hive is running out of ideas on how to defend itself from the strange metallic intruders.

While it is panicking, it does not notice a big-headed creature approaching it from the rear of the hive cluster.

* * *

(Prodigy's point of view...)

With the help of a Reaper cult Mastermind, a Traveller cult Prodigy manages to get teleported right into the rear of the hive cluster. With all of the guarding mutant Zergs diverted to the advancing Reaper armour column, none of these Zergs are able to respond quick enough when a Mastermind sneaks close to the rear of the hive cluster on top of a nearby cliff. Intelligence gathered from Protoss ruins have indicated that the Zergs are attracted to the unique psychic energy signature emitted by Ichor, Masterminds and elites of the Traveller cults, hence it must act quickly before the other mutant Zergs are alerted of its presence.

The Prodigy finds itself inside the hive cluster, standing on top of a purple slimy organic surface littered with dots of green. Its senses tell it that the slimy organic surface contains traces of Ichor in it as well, meaning that both the mutant Zergs and itself are able to heal under the effects of Ichor radiation if they stand on it.

Wasting no time, the Prodigy focuses its thoughts to track down the psychic core of this hive cluster. If it can find it and mind control it, it will accomplish its mission by taking control of the entire hive cluster. Soon enough, it detects several thoughts projected by these Ichor-assimilated creatures; most of them are the jellyfish-shaped creatures that are found floating in the sky. However, the most prominent one originates from the largest organic structure that is sitting closest to an Ichor field. Believing that this psychic thought is the indication of the core of the hive, the Prodigy moves quickly and traces its location.

Soon enough, the Prodigy finds itself staring at a giant lump of flesh and Ichor with 5 gigantic teeth-lined crystalline horns lining its perimeter. The entire structure resembles a grotesque-looking crown decorated with green emeralds covering at random patches. Lying next to the organic structure, are 3 maggot-shaped larva-like creatures, which suddenly shed their skins when the Prodigy approaches, transforming into some kind of an egg or cocoon-like structure.

Deciding to ignore the eggs or cocoon, the Prodigy approaches and starts to focus its mind, when it suddenly detects another presence hiding within that core of the hive cluster.

Emerging out from one of the external cavities lining the side of the Hive, an Mutant Queen steps out onto the open. This Queen resembles the new Zerg Queens designed and engineered by the Queen of Blades herself, a large majestic creature that guards the Hive fiercely on the ground with her claws and spines. The differences that separate this Queen from the other Kerrigan's Queens are the multiple green Ichor crystals that cover her carapace, her green crystalline claws, green Ichor shards hidden underneath her flaps of skin, and an illuminating greenish glow of her eyes.

Detecting an intruder right in front of the doorstep of her hive, the Mutant Queen emerges out from her den, bellowing out a threatening screech at the big-headed quadruped creature standing right in front of it. It can detect a very powerful psionic energy emitted out from this smaller metallic creature, which feels alluring but possibly dangerous due to the high levels of psionic energy emitted. Regardless, this intruder is going to be a threat that needs to be removed.

After studying the larger creature guarding the front of the hive's core, the Prodigy concludes that its plasma cutter would be too weak to penetrate through the armoured crystalline carapace of that creature. Knowing that it is no match against a creature of that calibre, the Prodigy decides that it will need some help to deal with this guardian while it does its mission. By channelling its psychic powers, the Prodigy quickly summons in one of the Reaper Tripods in the frontline.

Knowing the Prodigy's intention, the summoned Reaper Tripod wastes no time in engaging the Mutant Queen, as it unleashes its Conversion beams against the hive guardian. Bellowing out in pain as the Conversion beams cut through its carapace and lacerates its flesh, the angered Mutant Queen lashes back as she charges and slams right into one of the Reaper Tripod's legs, throwing the massive war machine briefly off balance. Using her pair of extended overhead appendages, she strikes with her crystalline claws, only to be hindered by the tripod's forcefield generator. Shielded by the Queen's attacks, the tripod quickly regains its footing and resumes its barrage of Conversion beams onto the vicious animal.

Meanwhile, as the Mutant Queen and the Reaper Tripod duke out at the front of the Mutant Hive, the Prodigy begins to start its work. As it stands right next to the Mutant Hive, one of the Prodigy's tentacles digs into a hidden cavity of its enormous head, extracting out a number of smaller single-eyed crab-shaped Scrin. These are Cultist Parasites, young and immature Prodigies that have yet to found their hosts. Soon they will have to share a large single host alongside with the Prodigy itself.

Since the Mutant Hive itself is another manifestation psychic consciousness that can control other creatures that share its genes, the Traveller cult Supervisors have concluded that in order to fully mind control one of these Hive structures, they will need Cultist Parasites to dig into the flesh of the Hive structure and use their psychic control to weaken the mental defence of the Hive structure, before allowing a Prodigy to fully mind control it. Right now, the Prodigy is about to do just that.

* * *

(Back to the Hive's point of view...)

The Mutant Hive felt a brief sense of relief when the Queen responsible for tending it was alerted by the presence of the intruder and went out to face the unknown threat. However, the relief did not last long when that big-headed bug-shaped intruder summoned in one of the towering 3-legged monstrosity out there to hold off its last guardian. With the Cocoons still developing, there was nothing left standing between it and that intruder. Now, the Hive is not just worried; it is scared, especially when the intruder is standing at such close proximity to it, even its limited psionic consciousness is able to pick up bits and pieces of the intruder's intentions... and it knows that it is nothing good.

Unfortunately, there is nothing the Hive can do when the Prodigy begins to place Cultist Parasites at 5 different corners of the Hive's edges. After being placed, the Cultist Parasites begin to drill their appendages deep into the flesh of the Hive, connecting their neural appendages to the Hive's peripheral nervous system. The Mutant Hive mentally screams in pain and panic as it receives a sudden influx of information overload, as the implanted Cultist Parasites send in blasts of neural information into its independent mind.

While the Mutant Hive is struggling to regain control over its own mind from the implanted Cultist Parasites, the Prodigy has extracted a Manipulator device with its tentacles. With a precise aim, the Prodigy flings the Manipulator device towards and into the mouth-like cavity of the Hive's tip. With the device planted, the Prodigy begins to clear and focus its mind to mentally link itself with the device.

The Mutant Hive is still struggling to fight off the control of the parasites, when a sudden wave of thoughts flushes into its mind. For some reason, it can no longer concentrate and think anymore. There is a powerful voice whispering inside its mind, telling it to obey to its command. Already weakened by the earlier mental assaults of the Cultist Parasites, the Hive no longer has the strength to resist this powerful voice anymore, as its last bit of independent thoughts get overwhelmed by the unknown voice.

* * *

(Out of the Hive's point of view...)

The Prodigy is delighted as it feels its mental link with the Mutant Hive. When this has occurred, it feels that through this Hive structure, it is able to remotely communicate and control many other mutant Zergs out there. It appears that its Supervisors' theories have worked!

Out at the front of the hive cluster, the mutant Zergs, all fallen under remote mind control by the Prodigy through the Mutant Hive, have stopped their hostilities to the advancing Reaper cult armour column. Instead, they even escort the biomechanical war machines into the heart of their hive cluster; an indication that these Zergs have become into servants of the Scrin cause.

Out there, numerous other mutant hive clusters have suffered the same fate.

* * *

(Back inside Scrin forward base Drone Platform...)

Foreman 371 pays attention as his command interface illuminates an image of the world map of this planet that they have just conquered. The map is illustrating many kinds of data gathered by the Scrin armada, including Ichor distribution, troop distribution, locations of human ruins and locations of mutant Zerg hive clusters. As time flies by, the map also shows an increasing number of mutant Zerg hive clusters falling under the control of the Traveller cults. It is pleasant to know that the Scrin has successfully gained a huge, sizeable and sustainable number of mind-controlled mutant Zergs to be deployed as auxiliaries for future campaigns.

While Foreman 371 is studying the world map, he is also monitoring the updates submitted by his Assimilators, which had been busy dissecting and analysing the remains of Protoss bodies, derelict war machines and ruined structures left over by their retreated foes after an intense battle to control over this Ichor-infested planet. So far, the Assimilators had successfully analysed the materials and technology found in the armour of the Protoss foot soldiers. The foreman had been interested in these armour because he had noticed how well these armour could hold against Buzzer assaults even if the shields of the Protoss foot soldiers had run out. If they can assimilate these armour into their own armour technology, no doubt they will be able to create tougher battlesuits and war machine armour.

Some of his Assimilators had discovered husk remains of the Protoss towering walkers that were relatively intact. These Assimilators had been decoding the robotic artificial intelligence present in these enemy war machines and had assured that if given enough time, these enemy walkers could be reprogrammed, converted and restored into operational status as their own weapons.

Still, the technology that Foreman 371 is most fascinated in is the Protoss shield technology. Their new foes' shield technology had impressed the foreman the most because throughout the battle against the Protoss, the Protoss shields had proven to be much stronger and had lasted longer compared to the forcefield generator shielding technology currently employed by their race. Besides, the Protoss shields had been observed to have faster regeneration rate and they could be found in all forms of Protoss armoury, ranging from all Protoss infantries to war machines, ships and structures. The Scrin's forcefield generator shielding technology is currently limited to only capital ships and tripods. If the Assimilators had fully analysed the Protoss shielding technology, the Scrin would be able to protect all forms of their assets with shielding, meaning that it would not be just the capital ships or the tripods would enjoy the benefits of shields, but all Scrin would.

So far, updates from the Assimilators had indicated that for the case of the Protoss shield technology, they had discovered that the Protoss built shield generators of different sizes depending on the user. The Protoss shield generators appear to utilise plasma field instead of forcefield as their form of protection; and these generators seem to gain their power from partly the users' power stored in their battle armour in the case of infantries or fuel cells in the case of war machines and ships, and partly from the users' own mental strength. However, further analysis would be required to fully understand how the Protoss shields work.

Just then, Foreman 371 receives another update from the Assimilators; this time it is regarding about Protoss anatomy. Autopsy reports of the few numbers of recovered Protoss bodies had confirmed that these humanoid aliens were indeed psychic like the Traveller cult elites, and might have communicated psychically like the Traveller cult elites too. Full body autopsy had discovered that despite these aliens not having any forms of oral cavities, they were able to gain nourishments simply by absorbing energies from light alone. Physically, these aliens were taller and stronger than humans, and probably faster and more agile too. Blood analysis had indicated that these aliens had a very fast metabolic rate, proving them to be strong, fast and active creatures. Interestingly, genetic analysis had shown that the Protoss had long telomeres and active telomeric repair mechanisms in their genome, an indication that despite these aliens having fast active lifestyle, they are very long-lived.

Previously, Foreman 371 had been curious; not because of the scarcity of Protoss dead bodies. As he had been observing the entire battle, he knew that when Protoss foot soldiers fell in battle, most of them would disappear in a wisp of blue flames, hence explaining why there were so little bodies. He was curious of why did most Protoss vanished into blue flames when they fell and why few of them didn't. It was the analysis report of the battle armour of Protoss foot soldiers submitted by the Assimilators that answered his question; the armour of the Protoss foot soldiers had a type of teleportation device that could teleport their user away from the battle if it had detected that the user was mortally wounded. For those cases that the bodies had been remained, it was due to mechanical faults on these teleportation devices. Now, Foreman 371 has to take note that the true numbers of the Protoss soldiers must have only dropped quite little even after this battle; they had simply just increased the number of names in the Protoss injury list, nothing more. In the case if he encounters the Protoss again, he would expect fiercer battles in the future.

"**FOREMAN; THE ASSIMILATORS INVESTIGATING AT HUMAN RUIN SITE NO. 13 HAD JUST SUBMITTED THEIR REPORT. TRANSMITTING REPORT... STANDBY... TRANSMIT COMPLETE!"**

Foreman 371 begins to scan through the scout report just submitted by one of his troops sent to investigate whether the human faction the Brotherhood of Nod was once present on this planet. If it was, then it might have explained to how they were been drawn to this uncharted planet and why it had been colonised by Ichor at the first place despite the planet not been recorded in their data core. As the foreman scans through the report, he grimaces... he has found a lead.

Just then, a holographic image of his Supervisor flashes in front of his command interface,

"_**Foreman 371; what is the current status of the assimilation of Protoss technology?"**_

"**It's going along well, Supervisor. The Assimilators had fully analysed the metallurgy used by the Protoss armour. Soon, we will be able to replicate the materials used to forge Protoss armour and assimilate it into part of our own. The analysis of the shield technology utilised by the Protoss is almost complete too. We will soon be able to replicate this plasma shield technology and use it to replace our aging forcefield generator shielding technology. Very soon, we will be able to conduct a full upgrade on our armada arsenal." **Foreman 371 replies.

"_**Excellent! Then what about the investigation regarding on the human ruins? Have you found any trace of the Brotherhood of Nod or Kane, or any clues to what could have caused the premature Ichor-LQ detonation on this planet?"**_

"**Yes, Supervisor! I'd just received a scouting report from the troops at human ruins site no. 13; and the results are... disturbing..."**

"_**Define disturbing!"**_

"**Assimilators at the site discovered multiple remains of what appears to be structures of human origins that seem to have been badly damaged by innumerable numbers of claw marks, possibly of Zerg causes. Many of these structures had been broken into unidentifiable pieces, but the Assimilators did discover symbols on pieces of the ruins. The symbols have a 95.5% match to one particular symbol recorded in our data core; the symbol of the Brotherhood of Nod, the human faction that was responsible of luring us to Earth more than 400 earth years ago. The presence of a fresh ruins bearing these symbols could only come up with a single conclusion: the Brotherhood of Nod was in here, not too long ago!"**

"_**So... it is the Brotherhood of Nod again? This is beginning to show signs of a repeat of the disastrous Earth operation! I must let the Overlord know about this critical news that the human Nod forces were once here, in this sector of the universe; and most likely they must be still around this sector somewhere! This might also be another chance for us to investigate more about the individual known as Kane, if he still exists that is. Anymore clues regarding about the whereabouts of the human Nod forces?"**_

"**Negative, Supervisor! Other than objects that bear the symbols of the Brotherhood of Nod, we found no clues that might point us to their current exact locations or any direct evidence that indicate their involvement for luring us into the planet."**

"_**Disappointing! Nevertheless, resume your investigations on the human ruins and find more clues regarding to the Brotherhood's operations in this planet! I would now inform the Overlord about this news that the Brotherhood of Nod was used to be on this planet and might be involved in the Ichor-LQ detonation that brought us to this planet."**_

With that ending speech, the holographic image of the Supervisor flickers away, signifying the end of the conversation, for now.

* * *

(A few hours later... inside Scrin forward base Drone Platform...)

The holographic image of the Supervisor flashes in front of Foreman 371 again when the foreman is still performing his duties,

"_**Foreman 371; the Overlord has major announcements to make to our entire armada on this planet! Listen attentively now!"**_

Just then, the deep authoritive voice of the Scrin Overlord sounds across the command chamber.

"_**Hear me, fellow kinsmen! It is I, the Overlord speaking! An unnatural event has drawn us to this uncharted sector, an unexplored area of the galaxy that is still filled with many unknown factors. Despite the fact that we are now in an unknown sector, luck is still with us! Not only is this planet rich in resources to support a healthy growing population of Ichor, our long-distance scanners have indicated that the surrounding planet in this sector are equally rich in resources, more than enough for us that if we seed these planets with Ichor, we would harvest enough of them to once again, fill up our Ichor Hub! We have even confirmed that some of these planets already had started showing traces of Ichor growth! The only challenges that may stand against us are the Protoss whom we had just defeated and studied before; the unassimilated Zergs but we need not to fear them as we now have a handful of Ichor-assimilated Zergs that would be useful as our new slaves for battle; and our most hated enemies who had once humiliated us on the Solar System, the humans!"**_

"_**Fear not, fellow kinsmen. The humans may have advanced their technology in leaps while ours remain stagnant as a result of our centuries of stasis, we would soon open the technological gap between us and the ones that had once humiliated us! Thanks to the superior commanding skills of Foreman 371, our armada had successfully secured a foothold and defeated a Protoss fleet, allowing us to conquer this planet unopposed! Our defeated enemies left behind their equipment as they retreated, an opportunity for us to dissect and assimilate the technologies utilised by another race whose certain fields of technologies are as advanced or even more advanced than ours. From these left-behind equipments, we will assimilate their technologies into ours; and we would use these technologies to create a new improved armada!"**_

"_**Fellow kinsmen, we would set up a main forward base of operations on this planet, while we wait for our Assimilators to complete their tasks! Once we are ready, we shall launch a full-scale invasion across this entire sector! Soon we would seed Ichor across this entire resource-rich sector, and we would claim all the Ichor in this sector as rightfully ours! With our newly improved armada and our newly captured slaves of assimilated Zergs, this sector... SHALL FALL!"**_

After hearing the impressive announcement made by their highest authority, Foreman 371 feels that if he would be a human or a Protoss, he would have cheered the loudest. Unfortunately, the Scrin does not understand such kind of emotional expression; because a Scrin would usually express an emotional excitement through body actions such as jumping, not through vocal means. Indeed, the foreman is having the urge to jump in excitement, if not the fact that he has been firmly secured to his command interface in the Drone Platform.

'**I see, a full-scale invasion is imminent... I would not fail like I did back on the Solar System this time!' **Foreman 371 thinks, **'When the time comes, I would ensure the defeat of any indigenous species that dare to stand against us!'**

Just then, shortly after the Overlord has ended his announcement, the Supervisor interrupts Foreman 371's thoughts,

"_**Foreman 371; the Overlord had given you a very important task that may determine the success of this operation! The Overlord had expressed his concern about the fact that the Brotherhood of Nod had once existed on this planet, so he wanted you to conduct a planet-wide investigation to determine whether these humans are still present on this planet! You are also hereby ordered to conduct investigations to search for more clues regarding on the Brotherhood of Nod, especially on who is their current leader and where are their present locations! The Overlord doesn't want another attempts by these humans to sabotage our bases of operations, which I remind you that these sabotages eventually led to our defeat back on Earth! Make sure that these humans are not going to interfere with our operations again!"**_

The foreman does not like the way how his Supervisor had reminded him about the humiliating defeat back on Earth that 400 years ago, but the Supervisor is right. Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod are now been seen as primary threats to the Scrin cause just because of what they had done to them back on Earth. After their defeat and failure to harvest more Ichor on Earth, the Scrin had been suffering from a dangerous shortage of Ichor, which almost caused the extinction of their race during those centuries after the defeat. Now, they have a chance to fill up their almost empty Ichor Hub, and they are not going to allow those Nod humans to foil their plans again.

"**I understand, Supervisor! I will carry out the investigations right away!"**

"_**Remember, the conquest of this sector is going to be the key to our species survival. DO NOT FAIL THIS TIME!"**_

* * *

The stage is set as another new competitor has made a foothold on the already chaotic battlegrounds of the Koprulu Sector. History is about to be rewritten...

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Raynor's New Quest

While the Scrin makes its preparation for a sector-wide war, Raynor is about to meet an old friend, after completing another assignment on Xil. New crewmates on board of _Hyperion_ will lead to a new mission. Meanwhile, the Mengsk is plotting a revenge against Kane and the humiliation the Dominion has suffered back on Mar Sara.

* * *

Planetary Assault Carrier vs. Protoss Carrier

Here is another section of unit versus, this time featuring carriers from both Scrin and Protoss side. On the last chapter, I did not cover the details of what would happen if a PAC and a Protoss Carrier faces off directly. This time, I'll be comparing and guessing which of these two capital ships would have a better chance of winning.

**PAC:**

One of the largest and most formidable warships observed in a Scrin fleet, the Planetary Assault Carrier (PAC) is one of the most feared Scrin arsenals during the Third Tib War. It is unknown exactly how big a PAC is, but it is known that a PAC can be about half a size bigger than a Devastator Warship (which has a bulk that can completely cover over a Third Tib War era skyscraper in low attitude flight). PACs themselves are unarmed; their main armaments are their cargoes of about 8-12 (can't tell exactly how many of them because they are so small and so fast in-game) Invader-class fighters. When these interceptors fire continuously against a single target, they can quickly destroy even a Mammoth Tank in an instant. Each Invader fighter is very fast and agile, but it is also fragile and can be easily destroyed, though lost Invaders can be eventually replaced by the PAC free of charge. Besides functioning as an assault carrier, PACs have advanced detectors to detect enemy stealth units. The PAC's most powerful ability is the generation of localised ion storms, similar to a Storm Column. In the ion storm, the PAC itself enjoys a boost in overall performance and can slowly regenerate under the storm. The PAC is one of the few Scrin units that can be equipped with a forcefield generator, but its weak shield usually will not be able to withstand several surface-to-air missiles before failing. However, the PAC itself is already very heavily armoured, capable of surviving full volleys of air-to-air missiles launched by 4 Firehawks without breaking apart. Still, it can be vulnerable to enemy assaults such as Venoms, Firehawks and anti-air turrets if all of its Invader fighters had been exhausted; even a pack of several Venoms armed with Spitfire lasers can easily tear an unprotected PAC apart in seconds.

**Carrier:**

Forming the core of the Protoss Great Fleet, the Carriers are one of the most important formidable and important warships employed by the Protoss. Although they have never been specified on exactly how large they are, they are known to be huge ships, rivalling the size of a Terran Minotaur-class Battlecruiser (which according to SC wiki, were about 560 metres long by 82.4 metres wide). Carriers mainly engage their enemies by ejecting up to 8 Interceptors one by one to battle, in which each Interceptor would pepper their targets with twin Interceptor beams. Although each Interceptor beam does not do a lot of damage, a continuous barrage of these beams can still easily tear a Battlecruiser apart in seconds. The ship itself also holds one main cannon, which has so far only been observed for planetary purification purpose, so it is unknown whether the main cannon can be used for ship to ship combat. The Carrier is one of the most heavily armoured and heavily shielded warships in the Protoss arsenal. With a large, strong plasma shield and heavy Protoss air armour, Carriers are capable of taking tons of punishments before failing. However, if the Carrier's plasma shields fail, the durability of the Carrier's hull has been proven to be inferior to those of a Minotaur-class Battlecruiser.

**Comparison**

Both ships perform the roles of carriers in their respective sides, so one of the most important factors is how fast both ships can release their interceptors. PACs hold their Invaders directly under its hull like 2 rows of rib bones, so when a PAC wants to release its interceptors, it simply release its hold and immediately allows all its interceptors to fly off and engage. A Carrier ejects its Interceptors one by one though its front hull. Even with the Graviton Catapult upgrade, its Interceptor deployment speed would most likely unable to beat the deployment speed of a PAC. Although the margin of difference in deployment speed may be small, even a difference in milliseconds may cause a significant difference in the outcome, especially the fact that when any of the carriers are destroyed, all the interceptors of the destroyed carrier will be instantly destroyed too.

The interceptors of both sides are small, agile and have little protection to prevent quick destruction. Their individual damages are pretty weak, which is why both sides mostly rely on swarming techniques of multiple interceptors to destroy their enemies quickly. Hence in this fight, I am assuming that the performances of the interceptors of both sides are about equal. In this case, the consideration of interceptor replacement and cost will be taken, since both classes of interceptors are swift but very fragile. It is known that Carriers can instantly replace lost Interceptors in seconds, but each replacement would require the Carrier commander to manually order the ship to spend a small amount of resources to build a replacement Interceptor before releasing it for combat. For the PAC's case, a PAC can "regenerate" any lost Invaders free of charge, but it would take about a minute for the "regeneration" to be ready.

As the exact sizes of both ships are not known, it is unsure which ship would be bigger. Still, it is obvious that the Carrier would have better shield protection compared to a PAC. In terms of armour, both carrier classes can take in quite a serious amount of punishments, so it is hard to determine which carrier is more heavily armoured.

Although Carriers are known to be armed with a purification beam cannon that can crack open a planet's crust surface, they have never been observed to be using them for direct ship-to-ship combat (the opening scene in SC1 does not count as that Terran ship is mostly likely to be unlucky to stay right in the middle of the beam's projectile, which the Protoss warship is aiming for the planet surface). When a PAC activates its ion storm generator, it would definitely enjoy a huge advantage in the battle; with the boost in the speed, armour as well as added regeneration under an ion storm by the PAC itself and its interceptors; not to mention that the ion storm would also annihilate the opposing interceptors and inflict heavy damage onto the shield and hull of the enemy carrier. Note that if the PAC wants to generate an ion storm, it can only do so in an atmospheric condition, not in deep space.

PAC's edges:

Interceptor deployment speed

Free cost interceptor replacement

Ion storm generator

Carrier's edges:

Shield

Interceptor replacement speed

**Conclusion**

PAC wins if:

In an atmospheric environment, where the PAC can activate and unleash an ion storm to enjoy a boost in combat power against the Carrier. With a faster interceptor deployment speed and the ability to create ion storms, the PAC would probably win most of the engagements.

Carrier wins if:

In a deep space environment, where the PAC is unable to utilise its ion storm generator. Also, the Carrier would stand a better chance of victory if it focuses to destroy all of the PAC's interceptors first before directing all of its fire against the PAC itself. If the Carrier commander is prepared with ample amounts of resources to afford interceptor replacements, the Carrier's chance of victory would also be higher.

* * *

And finally this concludes the Scrin "mini-campaign" in this part of the trilogy. From the next chapter onwards, the focus will return on the Brotherhood, the Dominion, and Raynor's merry little gang. More Scrin action will be available in the next part of my trilogy.


	21. Act 20: Raynor's New Quest

Firstly, I need to apologise for my tardy grammar on the last chapter. Kinda admit that I had rushed to upload that one up before doing some serious checkings.

To Randomite Tandomite: Congrats, you are the 100th reviewer! Kerrigan's Zergs, the Dark One and the hybrids will appear and they will still be the main antagonists in this story. The first vision of the future that Zeratul had seen will still remain the same though, as that vision is told by Tassadar's ghost about the grim future if the Xel'naga is to return and Kerrigan is dead. However, there will be a second vision of the future, which will depict a second kind of scenario of a dark future that will be as bad as the first.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

INCOMING TRANSMISSION...

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 20: RAYNOR'S NEW QUEST**

(_Hyperion _Access Hall F... high orbit above Xil...)

James Eugene Raynor breathes out a sigh of relief as he just left the control bridge, heading towards the cantina for a little relaxation.

Just a few minutes ago, he and his crew had managed to retrieve a 3rd fragment of the artifact that Tychus and his Moebius boys had been looking for. The thing is that mission was not a piece of cake. Imagine finding yourself surrounded by hordes of angry Tal'darim extremists who were willing to protect their precious relics with their lives; that was the predicament that he and his men were facing on Xil. Fortunately, they managed to find a working Drakken Laser Drill, left behind by the previous batch of Moebius archaeologists who had probably perished in the hands of those Tal'darim fanatics. By using that giant laser drill both as an excavating tool and a weapon, they had successfully extracted the artifact fragment while holding off waves and waves of fanatical Protoss warriors before they made their escape from this planet surface. In just a few minutes moment, Matt Horner will be bringing this ship to jump into warp space so as to get out of this hostile planet as soon as possible.

While Jim heads towards the cantina along a narrow corridor, he begins to reminiscence the recent additions to his ship and his band of raiders throughout the few weeks after the Mar Sara insurrection. One of them is the attractive-looking bespectacled brunette lady doctor named Ariel Hanson, whom he picked up with her colonists on Agria when the planet got struck hard by a serious Zerg infestation.

Ever since her arrival, he had found Dr. Hanson had became the ship's medical doctor and head of the scientific research department of his ship, with the other sole member being the nerd Stetman. Still, throughout the journey, he and Ariel had been trying to find a safe planet to resettle the Agrian colonists, with one failed attempt on Meinhoff when the planet got hit by a Zerg plague that turned its victims into Infested Terrans.

Since that day when he and his raiders had to purge the entire colony on Meinhoff, Dr. Hanson had dedicated herself to find a cure for the Zerg infestating virus. Besides the Zerg virus, Dr. Hanson had also expressed some interests about the 'mysterious green crystals' that had plagued Mar Sara before the insurrection, and was willing to help him to crack the secrets of those crystals if they can get hold of a few samples.

Another recent addition to the _Hyperion_ is the mysterious rogue Ghost and mercenary Gabriel Tosh. He first encountered Tosh when he accepted a request from him to conduct a 'simple' mining operation on Redstone III for some kind of rare mineral. After that mission, Tosh made himself home on the _Hyperion_, claiming that he was staying because he still had more business propositions to make with him. The dark-skinned ex-Ghost's second request brought them upon Bel'shir, where they would gather some kind of rare gas called Terrazine, which put them at odds against the Tal'darim for the second time, who had treated those gases as sacred.

Seriously, he had been wondering what is so special about those gold mineral crystals and the Terrazine gas that Tosh had wanted so badly that he was willing to take the risk of getting them from an unstable volcanic planet and a Protoss fanatic-occupied planet respectively. Then, according to the lady doctor's examinations, he realised that those Jorium-rich gold minerals and Terrazine gas can act as psi-enhancers that can vastly enhance the psionic abilities of a psionic being such as Tosh himself. He had been suspecting that Tosh had some ulterior motives for joining his crew, and the doctor's finds had even made him question the white-eyed Ghost's motives even further. In fact, he had been wondering that with Mengsk's current measures to strictly control his Ghosts such as the use of psionic inhibitors and memory wipes, are there even such things as "rogue Ghosts"?

Then, when he and Horner received an anonymous transmission about some Project: Shadowblade thingy, Tosh did not deny the fact that he was actually a member of a special branch of Ghost agents known as Specters, the "next-generation Ghosts" as claimed by Tosh himself. Despite Tosh's confession, he knew that there was no reasons why he should throw the mercenary out of his ship just because the now revealed Specter had been hiding his true identity. As stated by Tosh, there was this possibility that the transmission came from Mengsk in an attempt to split them up. Still, he had been constantly keeping his eyes on that Specter.

Since Tosh had made himself home on the _Hyperion_, the white-eyed Specter had been giving cryptic warnings of possible treasons on board of his ship, but never told him who would it be. Many other crewmates on board of _Hyperion_ had kept a distance away from that shadowy mercenary, especially Tychus who feared that the Specter would kill anyone on a whim.

Deciding to ignore about the matters of the new crewmates, Jim resumes his walk towards the cantina as he treads along a narrow corridor while starting to drink some of his booze from his bottle, alone. As Jim gulps down another mouthful of alcohol while he walks along the corridor, suddenly, the lights along the corridor begin to flicker, catching the outlaw leader's attention. The rebel leader, sensing something amiss, turns his head back, only to find that the lights along the corridor behind him shut down one by one for no apparent reasons. As Jim is still trying to figure out what is happening, he turns his head back to the front, only to find that the lights in front of him are shut down too. Now, only the lights above and just beside him are still on, as if he is in the middle of a spotlight. Just then, he hears a voice from the darkness in front of him,

"_James... Raynor..."_

Out from within the darkness in front of the outlaw leader, a purple-robed Protoss with green eyes and purplish skin colouration emerges. Jim immediately recognises the figure approaching him.

"Zeratul?"

"_I bring tidings of doom. I have pierced the veil of the future and been hailed only... oblivion..."_ the Dark Templar speaks, clutching his right arm and squats down, as if he is in pain.

Jim squats to try to help his former ally up, but Zeratul continues his words, _"yet one spark of hope remains... you will hold her life in your hands... and though justice demands that she dies for her crimes... only she can save us..."_

Jim tries to figure the cryptic message that Zeratul is trying to imply. After fighting alongside with the Protoss in a war, he had learnt that whatever Zeratul says, it always means serious business. The only issue that he dislikes about his former ally is the way how he always speaks in riddles. Still, when the dark prelate mentions "she" and "dies for her crimes", he suddenly realises who Zeratul is trying to refer to,

"Wait a second, you're talking about Kerrigan! It's been 4 years, you show out of nowhere and..."

Before Raynor can go on ranting, Zeratul suddenly grasps his right arm and seemingly passing something into his right hand,

"_Time is short; you must understand!"_

As Zeratul removes his grasp, in Raynor's hand, 2 green and golden amulets have been revealed. Each of these 2 amulets are shaped like 6-petalled flowers, with 3 larger diamond shaped petals each decorated in some alien language words and 3 smaller petals arranged in alternating pattern. In the middle axis of each amulet, lies a triangular prism-shaped green crystal.

"_The answers you seek... lie within... study them well..."_

Just then, one of the amulets begins to shine and deploys, revealing a crystal shard suspended above the greenish central crystal.

"_The fate of creation hangs in a balance... and beware... of the weeds..."_

Then, as quickly as Zeratul appears, as quickly as he disappears; when he retreats back into the darkness where he came from. The lightings along the corridor suddenly return to normal, with Zeratul nowhere in sight.

Jim is still unsure how to respond to his former ally's sudden visit, but decides to at least give the Protoss a friendly greeting of his own, "Nice to see you too..."

Raynor looks down in his right hand again, examining one of the devices given to him, which had deployed to reveal a pale purplish crystal shard. It is most likely the other device holds the same thing as well. The crystal shard resembles one of those Khaydarin crystals commonly used by the Protoss as psionic enhancement gear. However, only Protoss and Zergs have been known to be able to use these crystals; so why give 2 of these rare crystals to a 'not so psionic' Terran like him?

Just then, Jim remembers the tales of the so-called 'memory crystals' as spoken by the Protoss allies during the Great War: Ihan crystals. He recalls some of the Dark Templar mentioning about such crystals that can be used to store the memories of an individual who hold the crystals, and allow others to read the memories of that individual. Does that mean that the Dark Templar had witnessed something important, and Jim must see it for himself to truly understand? What is this event? Is it good or bad? From the brief encounter with Zeratul, Jim feels that the seasoned warrior looks pretty exhausted, as if the Dark Templar had just experienced a hard-fought battle before arriving here to deliver his message. Whatever the reasons why Zeratul had rushed in here despite his current physical condition, the dark warrior appears to have some very urgent messages to share.

Gripping tight on the 2 Ihan crystal holding devices, Jim makes a detour, heading towards the ship's laboratory instead of the cantina.

* * *

(A few minutes later... inside _Hyperion's _laboratory...)

Jim puts the 2 devices, both deployed to reveal an Ihan crystal each, on one of the desks in the laboratory. While he stares attentively at the 2 arcane objects, his blank expression catches the attention of the brunette lady doctor.

"Amazing... what are those things?" Dr. Hanson asks, as she admires the 2 glittering crystal shards in awe.

"Well... I did hear about those Ihan crystals from the Protoss," the outlaw leader replies, "they said that these things can store memories and allow others to read them! I just don't understand, but... why does Zeratul give me two crystals?"

Ariel feels a little surprised when she heard that her hired mercenary leader had made a very recent encounter with a Protoss. Although it is well-known throughout the sector that Jim Raynor used to be an ally and a friend to the Protoss Empire during the previous Great War, she never expects the outlaw to have made close contact so recently. Now she is wondering exactly when does the infamous rebel leader encounter any friendly Protoss these few days, especially when they had been on a run from some radical ones.

"Err... do you think it's possible that your friend got two separate news to tell you, James?"

Upon hearing Ariel's words, Jim's mind suddenly clicks.

'Two crystals... two memories to share... two events! Now that make sense!'

"I see... now that makes some sense! Thanks for your suggestions, doc!" Jim quickly thank the ship's new medical doctor on board.

"Err... glad to be of a help..."

"Now, I think it's time for me to see what Zeratul has in store for me..."

Before Jim can peer his mind into one of the Ihan crystals, a sudden broadcast interrupts him,

"_Sir... we've got a situation down here. We need you in the bridge right now!"_

From the voice of the broadcast, it sounds like Matt Horner. If Matt is calling him right now, then it always means serious business.

"Sigh... looks like I'll look into your thoughts a little bit later, old friend. Doc, lock down this lab and follow me to the bridge; I don't want anyone else to touch those crystals while I'm not looking."

"Okay, James!" the doctor replies as she begins to shut the lab down while she and the outlaw leader walk out and start to head towards the bridge. Jim turns his head to give a last look at the 2 Ihan crystals, before the hatch to the laboratory is shut.

* * *

(Another few minutes later... in _Hyperion _control bridge...)

Gathered in front of the star map in the middle of the ship's control bridge, are Jim Raynor, Matt Horner, Tychus Findlay, Tray Randall and Dr. Ariel Hanson.

"Alright, Matt, now tell me what the heck is going on here?" the leader of the raiders is the first to ask.

"Well, sorry to inform you at a brief notice, sir, but this is urgent! Remember the Confederate adjutant that we stole from the Dominion boys on Tarsonis not long ago?"

"Yeah, I remember that! We've recovered it from a train wreck when we were just earning some extra cash from Mengsk's boys. That adjutant seemed to be important to Mengsk for some reason. If we can just decrypt that piece of junk, we would find out why Mengsk is so eager to get it. That's why we asked Colonel Orlan to help us out."

"That's right sir, and guess what; Mira Han just called from Deadman's Port. She said that Orlan had decrypted that adjutant, but for some reasons he's not planning to return it to us."

"Not returning to us? What does Orlan want with that old adjutant?"

"Mira said that Orlan's planning to sell it to Mengsk! Whatever he found inside that adjutant, it must be something very important to Mengsk. We must get that adjutant back!"

"Right! We must retrieve that adjutant before Orlan can sell it to the Dominion! By the way, Matt, I've been surprised that you actually answer that call made by your wife; I thought that you'd been trying to avoid her since your... errmm... marriage?"

Upon hearing Raynor's comments, Matt has a stunned facial expression, leaving his mouth wide open. The last thing that the captain of the _Hyperion_ wants to be reminded with, is his secret awkward relationship with that pink-haired mercenary. Fortunately for the second-in-command, before Matt gets any further embarrassment, Tray decides to help his friend out.

"Actually sir, it was I who answered that call. Apparently, Mira Han informed us about this situation because she was hired by Orlan to stop us if we want that adjutant back; but she decided to give us an early warning because of previous ties with us and especially with... Mr. Horner. Frankly speaking, I never knew that Mr. Horner is married..." Tray explains, as he throws an eye towards the embarrassed _Hyperion_ captain. "We must hurry though, sir! Mira is a mercenary; so even if she were friends with us, she would not hesitate working for Orlan if the payments had been made. We had to get to Deadman's Port and pay Mira first before Orlan did!"

"Agreed!" Jim replies, "We will head towards Deadman's Port now and retrieve that adjutant. Matt, check the scanners; is the signal of the tracking beacon still in Deadman's Port?"

"Checking right now, sir... yeah, the signal is still there! This means that the adjutant is still at Orlan's place." Matt replies.

"Good! Keep your eyes on that signal, Matt, and make sure that it does not leave Deadman's Port." Jim orders, "Phew! Lucky for us to heed Tray's suggestion to plant that tracking beacon inside that piece of junk before handing it to that double-crosser. Else we would never even realise when that snake Orlan would sneak that robot out of the system!"

* * *

(Augustgrad Palace... Korhal IV...)

Inside the royal conference chamber, the emperor of the Terran Dominion, Arcturus Mengsk, has gathered the entire committee of military leaders of the Dominion High Command to discuss on how to deal with the latest threats that had been tearing the Dominion apart.

A lot of things have been happening across his rebuilt empire, including the recent large-scale Zerg invasion. Many of the fringe colonies had been hit hard by the Zerg invasions, and even some of the core colonies had been attacked too. According to a recent news footage, it was confirmed that the Queen of Blades herself was responsible for leading and spearheading this series of attacks against the Dominion. Although it is still unknown why that queen bitch of the universe chose to attack now, the scale of invasion has made it obvious that a Second Great War had started in the Koprulu Sector.

So far, the various military leaders of their respective systems had been busy pushing up recruitment efforts in their controlled systems to bolster the dwindling Dominion military manpower. With almost all available penal troops and neural resocialised criminals already been drawn out to the frontlines, the leaders had no choice but to draft out any able-bodied civilians they can find for recruitment. Although these conscripted civilian soldiers were able to temporarily replace any lost existing soldiers, their lack of adequate training would mean that the quality of these conscripts were never be as good as those permanently lost battle-hardened veterans.

Due to the threat of a new sector-wide war, Mengsk and the Dominion High Command had already ordered all industrial colonies across the Dominion to speed up production of military hardware, weapons, vehicles and ships. However, even with the full might of the Dominion's industrial power had been brought to play, the High Command knew that they would still not able to match against the swiftness of Kerrigan's invasion. Hence they had made the decision to withdraw forces from the minor fringe colonies and concentrate the defences on the more tactically important core colonies. It was due to this ruthless decision that had caused many small, relatively defenceless fringe colonies such as Agria to fall under the might of Zerg infestation in less than a single day.

And the Zergs were not the only major problems bugging the High Command...

Due to the sudden Zerg invasion, many rebel organisations that had been opposing the divine rule of Arcturus Mengsk had seized their opportunities to strike at many key Dominion outposts across the sector. Although most of these rebel attacks had been quickly beaten off or annihilated, some such as the infamous Raynor's Raiders had constantly succeeded in crippling numerous Dominion military installations, resulting the loss of Dominion lives and properties. Mengsk had publicly condemned these rebels as 'racial traitors' for betraying mankind when they should have joined up with the Dominion to defend humanity from the alien threats such as the Protoss or the Zergs. Having full control of the major galactic news networks such as the UNN, Mengsk had hoped that by using media propaganda against these rebels, public outcry would eventually bring those rebels down to their knees without the need to spend too much manpower to hunt those rats down.

However, speaking about the public, it seems that even the power of the media had been unintentionally turned against him; especially since the day when that man's face had suddenly appeared in the media screens sector wide...

That man, known only as Kane, had been a great mystery since he made his first public appearance in the Koprulu Sector. All records in the Dominion database had turned out empty, with no clues that may hint his true identity or background. It appears as if this man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, leading his organisation known as the Brotherhood of Nod, and attacked a Dominion territory without warning.

Usually, Mengsk and the High Command would treat such cases as another upstart faction that is foolishly trying to rebel against Dominion rule. Most upstarts were quickly overpowered and wiped out of existence before they could even become a significant threat. However, the Brotherhood of Nod is entirely different.

Not only does this mysterious organisation is equipped with its own unique advanced military hardware and technology that can match those of the Dominion's, it has enough resources and manpower to fund an entire colony to rebel and rise against an entire Dominion armed squadron. The timing when this foe showed up could never be more perfect; as they made their first appearance when the colony had been struck by an infestation of some kind of alien, toxic, leeching mineral crystals. Although the military leaders in the High Command had to admit that it was partially their faults for quarantining the affected colony too quickly before evacuating the planet, as they were too eager to learn more about the alien crystals, hence causing a colony-wide civilian unrest, they had never expected this Brotherhood of Nod to show up and direct the civilian unrest towards them. It was also a mystery on how the Brotherhood of Nod had managed to smuggle so much weapons right under their noses onto the colony and gave them to almost the entire populations on the colony, resulting in the planet-wide insurrection. Never does the Dominion have ever encountered a foe like the Brotherhood that could rally an entire population in a colony to rebel against them, which eventually overwhelmed and totally annihilated the Omega Squadron on Mar Sara.

Since the total defeat of the Omega Squadron at the hands of Nod, Arcturus Mengsk and the Dominion High Command had their full attention turned to this new enemy before the Zerg invasions had begun. After receiving intelligence and battlefield footages from the doomed Omega Squadron before their inevitable destruction, Mengsk had realised that the Brotherhood of Nod might represent a significant threat to his regime, even more than the Kel-Morian Combine or the Umojan Protectorate. It was a new major terran faction that had to be eliminated before it could spread its influence across the rest of the sector. Once again, Mengsk tried to use the power of the media to convince his people that the Brotherhood of Nod was a dangerous terrorist organisation that had been threatening the peace across the sector, and not realising how badly his plan had backfired against him…

No one would have expected that man, the leader of the Brotherhood of Nod known only as Kane, would actually be audacious enough to hack into the UNN news channel and use it to broadcast his own propaganda speech. That man had turned out to be a highly charismatic public speaker, successfully convincing the general public to rise and oppose Dominion rule. As a result of that unauthorised broadcast, the Dominion had found itself facing numerous cases of colony uprisings in the fringe colonies across the sector. The unrests were not just only observed in the fringe colonies, some of the core colonies, even Korhal itself, had experienced civilian rioting, all thanks to the general public being convinced that the Dominion was not as invincible as it used to be.

This new threat in the form of Kane and his Brotherhood of Nod must not be overlooked any further, else the Dominion would risk the entire sector turning against its already weakened form. Now, Mengsk and the Dominion High Command are seeking ways to remove the Brotherhood's existence before it is too late.

* * *

"And now there is also this recent sightings of strange, mutated Zergs in a number of colonies…" one of the generals in the Dominion High Command points out, referring to the latest strange sightings of mutated Zergs that appeared as if being fused with some kind of green mineral crystals across their bodies.

"The most disturbing thing about these Zergs is that although sightings are so far extremely rare and few in numbers, these mutated Zergs will always deposit their crystal loads wherever they go!"

"Hold it right there, General Traxx," another general interrupts Traxx before the said general can resume his statement, "we are currently discussing about the issues on the Zergs, rebels and the Brotherhood, not some kind of unique individual Zerg sightings. Unless those strange Zergs you'd mentioned were discovered in large numbers, I don't see those sightings and their crystal deposits were much of a concern right now."

"General Townes does make a valid point, General Traxx," another general agrees, "unless those mutated Zergs were as numerous as the Queen of Blades' swarm and posed a direct threat to the Dominion, I believe that you are getting off topic here, General."

"That maybe true, gentlemen," General Traxx replies, "according to the sightings, those mutated Zergs were very few in numbers and were quickly dealt with by our Marines. The concern regarding to these Zergs were not the Zergs themselves, but rather the load they were carrying."

"You must be referring to those green mineral crystals, I presume," General Townes asks, "what is of much concern about some kind of crystals other than the fact that they were found on the carapace of those mutated Zergs?"

"Normally, I would care less about these things too," Traxx answers the question, before revealing a disturbing news, "it was until when the left-over crystals begin to expand and spread across the whole area like weeds! Sounds familiar everyone?"

The occupants within the chamber start to gasp in shock, as most of them are pretty sure that the mentioned property of the crystals do sound familiar to them. The last time they heard about such crystals that can spread like weeds was the period before that cursed Mar Sara Insurrection had occurred... the 'mysterious green crystals' of Mar Sara!

"Impossible! Are you sure it's the same crystals?" another general asks.

"Absolutely! One of the head scientists in the Science Corps had studied some of the samples gathered from those left-over crystals; and their properties matched to those of the preliminary descriptions of Mar Sara's crystals made by Colonel Doctor Church before his demise. We can be pretty sure that those crystals found on the mutant Zergs are the same type as the Mar Sara's mysterious green crystals! Right now, we are still trying to study how the hell do those crystals manage to mutate the Zergs and make them spread the crystals across the galaxy."

"This certainly isn't a good news, right?" Horace Warfield, the commander-in-chief of the Dominion Armed Forces sighs in concern, "Now we're not just facing the problems of the Zergs, rebels, Nod, we have an infesting crystals that can spread across space from planet to planet! I wonder what's next... Protoss-Zerg hybrids start showing up everywhere... or the return of UED?"

Finally, the emperor of the Terran Dominion decides to make his presence known after his generals' exchange of arguments, "That's enough! Now General Traxx; have the Science Corps obtained enough samples for complete analysis of those crystals?"

"Yes, my lord! We did find one crystal field about a hectare-wide, and still growing, on Antiga Prime. Although we were not sure how long would it take for the Science Corps to uncover all the secrets hidden within those crystals." General Traxx replies.

"If that's the case, then it's already good enough! We are now in the middle of a war, people! The Zergs, the rebels and the Nod are now our main concern; not some kind of newly discovered crystals or a few unique Zerg specimens! For those crystals, we'll let the Science Corps to figure out; right now, back to the topic of our enemies!"

"Yes my lord!" General Warfield decides to be the one to answer the emperor's calls, "The initial Zerg invasions had already wiped out more than 131 fringe colonies, with the others brink to falling as well. Large numbers of Zerg sightings had been reported in the Tyrador System; full-scale Zerg invasion in Tyrador System would be expected within the next 2-3 hours."

"How is the Armed Forces dealing with the Zergs?" Mengsk asks.

"The local militia defending the invaded fringe colonies were all either listed KIA or MIA." Warfield replies, revealing the grim news on how almost all militias of the invaded fringe colonies had been wiped out, "We've dispatched Beta Squadron, Gamma Squadron and Epsilon Squadron to hold off the Zerg advances in those fringe colonies, but had suffered severe casualties. It was estimated that the 3 dispatched squadrons had currently lost about 43.2% of the combined fighting force. We are considering sending in the newly re-formed Zeta Squadron, as well as deploying Reapers and Ghosts to reinforce the frontlines."

"Do it, Warfield! We must hold off the Zerg advances before more of those beasts could reach to the core worlds! Deploy the Alpha Squadron to defend the Tyrador System!"

"At once, my lord!"

"Good... now, are there any news of rebel activity? I've heard there were quite a number of colonies had openly revolted against my rule after that man appeared in the screen!"

"Unfortunately, my lord, we did receive cases of rioting and unrests across all colonies in the entire sector. The other fringe colonies that had yet to be invaded by the Zergs had all openly declared their independence and openly rebel against our rule. 24 additional colonies in between the fringe and core worlds had launched planet-wide insurrections against Dominion rule, and these colonies had received aid from rebel organisations, including Raynor's Raiders, Confederate remnants and Brotherhood of Nod. Even the core worlds had been affected; we did receive 567 cases of rioting in Korhal itself since that man's broadcast."

"Those rebels are beginning to give me too much troubles... send in troops to watch over and guard the UNN studios; and inform them that I would be coming to make several more speeches to correct the general public's opinions. Watch over the frequency and make sure no more clowns would try to hack into the channel during my speech!"

"It will be arranged, my lord!"

"Right... now Warfield, how is your investigation of the source of that broadcast? Did you find the hideout of Kane or that Brotherhood of Nod?"

"Yes my lord! We did successfully track down the source of the transmission that intercepted the UNN channel; it originated from the planet of Bhekar Ro. Just one hour after we tracked down the source of the transmission, we had received distress signals coming from our units stationed on that planet, before we mysteriously lost contact with them. From that, we had suspected Nod activity on that planet. Still, we had no evidence to point out that their leader might be still on the planet." Warfield replies.

"So... regardless, we know that the Brotherhood of Nod is most likely present on that planet. Nevertheless, there is enough reason for me to regain control over Bhekar Ro again. Colonel Gary Thompson; you'll be leading the Delta Squadron to spearhead the attack. Colonel Akira Yamada; you and the Nova Squadron will be supporting Colonel Thompson in this operation. I will also grant you the permission to command members of the Reaper Corps in this operation. Your mission is to invade and regain control of Bhekar Ro, and capture the site where the transmission originated from. If you find Kane, I want you to arrest that man, alive!"

"YES MY LORD!" the two commanders of their respective squadron reply.

"Good! Warfield, you'll be staying on Korhal in charge of the defence of the Korhal System in the event that the Zergs got this far."

"Understood, my lord!" Warfield replies.

"This conference is over for now," Mengsk announces, "until the next conference, I want everyone to perform your allocated assignments without delay! DISMISS!"

With the commanding words of the Terran Dominion's dictator, all generals and commanders of the Dominion High Command and various squadrons had left the royal conference chamber, including Warfield. As the commander-in-chief of the Dominion Armed Forces becomes the last man to step out of the chamber, only Arcturus Mengsk himself alone is left in the chamber. With no one else left in the chamber, the emperor of the Dominion taps into a computer terminal in the on his seat, logging in into a secure communication line, which is usually reserved for top-secret missions.

"Adjutant; patch me in to Agent 12-862..."

* * *

(_Hyperion _control bridge... high orbit above Deadman's Port...)

The Raynor's Raiders had arrived above Deadman's Port, a lawless region of the Koprulu Sector where outlaws, pirates, criminals and rebels congregate for trades, business deals or just for a short vacation from running away from the law enforcements. This region was so lawless that the Dominion had given up sending law enforcers to police the region, hence the region became a safe haven for many wanted criminals.

Currently, Jim Raynor and Matt Horner have their eyes fixed onto a single blip shown in one of the ship's long range scanners. This blip signifies the exact location of the old Confederate adjutant that Raynor and his gang had recently stolen from the Dominion on Tarsonis. Jim knows that the adjutant must have contained some sensitive information, else there will be no explanations why the Dominion is desperately trying to unearth it. Jim and his gang had obtained the adjutant during a series of train raids on Tarsonis, but were unable to decrypt the robotic adjutant. Hence Jim decides to hire Colonel Orlan, an expert in Confederate encryption codes, to decrypt the adjutant. The ex-Confederate officer did successfully decrypt the adjutant, but had decided to betray Jim's trust and sell the adjutant to the Dominion instead. This betrayal had further convinced Jim that the adjutant did contain some sensitive information that the Dominion is desperate to get their hands on.

"Sir, we must hurry" Matt speaks out to his superior, "the scanner has indicated that the adjutant is on the move! Orlan must be trying to take that adjutant off this world!"

"Dammit!" Jim exclaims, realising that they are running out of time, "We must quickly make a landfall onto the port! Get the boys ready to establish a forward base! We must somehow gather enough minerals on this mineral-poor junkyard planet and pay them to Mira before Orlan does..."

Just then, the adjutant of the Raynor's Raiders announces a sudden transmission,

"ALERT: RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION... SOURCE: MIRA HAN..."

"Mira? Why the heck is she calling now?" Jim asks. At the same time, Matt shudders at the news of Mira Han calling right now.

In the electronic mission map screen, a small side window pops up, revealing the live transmission by the pink-haired mercenary.

"_James; looks like you boys have arrived here earlier than expected... oh and is Matthew with you as well?" _the mercenary asks, with her Eastern European accent in a rather friendly tone.

Jim looks at his second-in-command, who is trying to hint him to pretend he is not there. Chuckling, the leader of the Raiders replies, "Err... he is in the ship alright... but he's not feeling quite well right now. Perhaps you would like me to leave him a message?"

"_Of course... help me ask him why he didn't call?"_

"Alright, I'll ask him. Anyway, back to business; why are you calling us right now? Don't tell me that Orlan had paid you to stop us!"

"_Oh, don't worry James; Orlan has not paid me yet. In fact, he won't be paying me anymore. I'm calling you boys to land in my base when you guys have decided to come down. For old friends' sake, I'll be working with you for a discounted price right this moment since there will be no more other buyers around who need my service."_

Upon hearing that Mira is not working for Orlan, Jim breathes out a sigh of relief, before noticing that something is not making sense.

"Wait a second... you said that Orlan won't be paying you anymore... what does that suppose to mean? Does Orlan break your contract or something?" Jim asks.

"_No, he didn't. It's just that a few minutes ago, we heard some loud explosions coming from Orlan's base. After the explosions had ended, I sent a few of my boys to investigate; and I realised that Orlan would not be paying me." _Mira replies.

"Explosions? What happened? Wait... don't tell me that..."

"_That's right, James; Orlan can't pay me... because Orlan's dead!"_

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Junkyard War

Somebody is moving Jim's Confederate adjutant, and surprisingly it is not Orlan. Who is trying take the adjutant away from Deadman's Port? Would the Raynor's Raiders reclaim what is theirs?

* * *

Nod Attack Bike vs. Vulture Hover Cycle

To my opinion, this is another interesting match-up. A battle of speed, between the Brotherhood of Nod's Attack Bike and the Terran Vulture-class hover cycle.

**Attack Bike:**

Although the Attack Bike is the lightest armoured vehicle in Nod's arsenal, it is also the fastest Nod vehicle on land. After more than 400 years of perfecting its design, the latest generation of Attack Bikes can reach top speed that even exceeds ion thrusters equipped Vultures (read My Nod Unit Profile: Attack Bike on chapter 6). Armed with superior speed and 3 sets of Tiberium-core rocket pods, Attack Bikes are excellent in conducting lightning-fast hit-and-run raids against both ground or aerial armoured targets. Attack Bikes are also equipped with advanced sensors that can track and detect hidden units, including cloaked Wraiths or Banshees. The Attack Bikes main downsides are their paper-thin armour, making them extremely vulnerable to any forms of attacks.

**Vulture:**

Vultures are common light hovering bikes employed by various Terran factions. Upgradeable with ion thrusters, they are easily one of the fastest Terran ground vehicles in the Koprulu Sector. Vultures are often used in both military and civilian duties, favoured because of their speed and smoothness of the ride. In military applications, Vultures are often used as scouts and anti-personnel raiders, conducting swift hit-and-run raids against enemy supply lines and infantry lines by peppering their targets with anti-personnel fragmentation grenades. Besides launching grenades at their targets, Vultures can also be upgraded to drop Spider Mines, small hidden automatic explosive droid which can cause widespread devastation to any ground targets if placed at the right place at the right time. Vultures are very lightly armoured, making them vulnerable targets to any forms of heavy assaults. Also, according to many skilled and experienced engineers, Vultures have highly unstable engines that can blow up at anytime, making riding them very hazardous if the bikes do suffer even the slightest technical faults.

**Comparison**

Since both vehicles lack significant armour protection, their main defences will be their speed and agility. As mentioned above, both light vehicles are the fastest of their kinds, with the Attack Bike having the slight edge in speed. As a wheeled vehicle, the Attack Bike will have less manoeuvrability than the hovering Vulture, meaning the Vulture will be faster in making shaper turns. Also, being a hover bike, Vultures will have better hard terrain-crossing capability compared to the wheeled Attack Bike, allowing them to travel at full speed even on the most difficult terrain.

The Attack Bike is armed with 3 Tiberium-core rocket pods, which launch armour-piercing Tiberium warhead rockets. Against armoured targets, the Attack Bike is deadly; but against a speedy lightly armoured unit such as a Vulture, rockets will have some difficulties in catching up and scoring hits, though the damage will be devastating to the Vulture if it does get hit. On the other hand, Vultures fire fragmentation grenades which may be slower, but have the advantage of causing small area of effect fragmentation damage, which the shrapnel can cause widespread damage to unarmoured targets such as Attack Bikes. Unless the Attack Bike is constantly on the move, a single direct hit from a frag grenade may severely damage an Attack Bike frame, causing irreversible damage to the Attack Bike which can affect the bike's performance throughout the rest of the battle. The same applies to the Vulture, since a direct hit from a Tiberium-core rocket can easily punch through the Vulture's paper-thin armour and knocks out its unstable engine, potentially triggering a deadly explosion that will out straight kill the rider in an instant. Although the Vulture can be armed with an array of Spider Mines, which can instantly obliterate an Attack Bike, the mines may not be effective in this battle. This is because the Attack Bike is equipped with advanced sensors to detect the hidden mines, and will likely destroy the mines first before the mines can strike. Even if the Attack Bike is caught off guard by the mine's sudden presence during a high speed chase, there is a chance that the ultra-fast Attack Bike will outrun the Spider Mines, hence making the explosive droid useless.

Being a small bulbous 2-wheeled vehicle, the latest generation of Attack Bike is mainly composed of its small bulbous cockpit that is just big enough to fit the rider, the mainframe, the 2 wheels, the twin Tiberium core turbo boost engines and 3 small rocket pods. The Vulture on the other hand, has a rather huge pointed front with a big frag grenade launcher, as well as an oversized set of twin ion thrusters engines behind, making the Vulture look like a long, pointed vehicle the length of a modern day car. This means that in terms of size, the Attack Bike is slightly smaller and may have slightly thinner armour than the Vulture; but it also means that the Attack Bike has a smaller profile that can have a higher chance to evade the Vulture's attacks. Besides, the Attack Bike rider is protected inside a small bulbous cockpit, while the Vulture rider is fully exposed to the outside elements.

Attack Bike's edges:

Slightly faster

Faster weapon

Smaller profile, more evasive

Detector that can avoid Spider Mine ambush

Vulture's edges:

More agile

Able to maintain top speed on any kinds of terrain

Splash damage weapon effective to light armour

Direct hit from a Spider Mine almost guarantee an instant kill

**Conclusion**

Attack Bike wins if:

In an open field or on a long straight road, where the Attack Bike can use its faster top speed to its full advantage, catching up with the enemy bike and evading enemy assaults. If the Attack Bike rider remains on full alert when chasing the Vulture, wary of Spider Mine presence, it can easily avoid getting hit by the Vulture's most devastating weapon and scores enough hits with its rockets to blast the Vulture into scraps.

Vulture wins if:

In a more rugged terrain or in a city street with short roads and many turns, where the Attack Bike is unable to travel at full speed constantly and have trouble in manoeuvring across rough terrain or sudden turns. In this case, the Vulture is able to utilise its better all-terrain hover capability and outmanoeuvre the Attack Bike. If the Vulture is able to evade the enemy rocket fire and score enough hits onto the enemy bikes, it can easily win. It may also try to surprise the enemy bike if it can place a Spider Mine right near a turn, which an Attack Bike will have trouble trying to move out of the way if the Attack Bike rider is not wary enough. A direct blast from a Spider Mine will be more than enough to wipe out the Attack Bike's existence.

Honestly, I think the face-off between an Attack Bike and a Vulture will be a very close fight, and the outcome will be highly dependent on the individual skills of the riders themselves.

* * *

Here's another new chapter, and sorry that it is taking me more than a month to finish this rather short chapter. Can't help it when I have so much university work to do these few weeks.

Enjoy and please review!


	22. Act 21: Junkyard War

Sorry for the long wait... just got myself tangled in too many academic assignments, projects, deadlines, and the most dreaded... exams.

To marticuss: Yes, you are right. Although the Attack Bikes can detect Spider Mines, strategically placed mines can still force Attack Bikes to steer off course to avoid the mines if the Attack Bikes have no time to react and destroy them. Also, it will have to depend on the biker's own reaction to see whether he can notice and destroy the mines quickly before needing to steer away or worse, get blown up. Sorry, but I won't be doing Siege Tank vs. Tick Tank; if the Tick Tank you have suggested is the same Tick Tank used in the Tiberium Sun, then this battle would be too lop-sided towards the favour of the Siege Tanks.

To payne167: Glad that you enjoy my story. Nod may appear to be overpowered right now as they are always winning their current battles, but don't forget that Kane and the Brotherhood have been observing all the Starcraft factions in their wars since Kane's first ascension and they are very familiar with Terran, Protoss and Zerg tactics. On the other hand, the Starcraft factions know nothing about the Brotherhood, which is why they are unable to anticipate any of the Nod's surprise attacks. Currently in this story, Nod's technology is much more advanced than the Dominion's since there's no restrictions placed on their research in all scientific fields by foolish politicians for the last 400 years. Still, the Brotherhood is far from being invincible, as every of their victories also come with heavy casualties on their own side. Nod weapons may be more advanced than the Terrans, but many of their units are also less durable than the standard Terran units. Also, there is a reason why the Nod always have the numerical advantage over their enemies, but I will not reveal it yet.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

STEALTH UNIT DETECTED...

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 21: JUNKYARD WAR**

(Mira's Mercs' base... Deadman's Port...)

Jim Raynor, armed in his black CMC armour and accompanied by Tychus Findlay and a sizeable squad of Marines, are now gathered in front of Mira Han's Command Centre. Not long ago, Jim, Tychus and a small squad of forces had landed and established a small forward base close to Mira Han's base of operation. Initially, Jim and his band of raiders planned to retake their recovered old Confederate adjutant which they believed contain sensitive information that may threaten the Dominion's rule. Jim wanted to decrypt that adjutant and find out what kind of information that old piece of robot is holding, hence he sends the adjutant to an expert in Confederate code decryption: Colonel Orlan. Orlan did decrypt the adjutant, but had decided that he would be better well-off if he would sell the adjutant to the Dominion instead, hence eventually leading the raiders to this junkyard planet. Mira Han was initially hired by Orlan to stall the Raiders in the event they would come, but now there is a major change of plans for both Raynor and Mira...

Just a few moments ago, Mira heard explosions coming out from Orlan's base. A quick investigation was conducted and a startling truth was revealed: Orlan's dead and his base destroyed. However, sensors on board of _Hyperion _had detected that the adjutant is currently still on the move, and is not inside Orlan's base. This would have meant one thing; someone has taken the adjutant, and is moving it to somewhere, possibly on the way out of this planet. The question is: who else is also after the adjutant? Right now, the pink-haired mercenary is about to show the Raynor's Raiders what she and her boys had recovered from the remains of Colonel Orlan's base, which might hint the final fate of the ex-Confederate officer.

"My boys managed to find this security camera drive in what used to be Colonel Orlan's base entrance..." Mira speaks as she holds up a disk drive, "surprisingly this thing is spared from whatever explosions that fully flattened Orlan's base. I've watched this footage couple of times and I still have no idea who or what killed Orlan; perhaps James you would have some ideas after you've watched this!"

"Play it, Mira!" Jim replies, "I need to know who or what has killed Orlan and possibly taken away that adjutant!"

"Okay, James! Now watch carefully... and don't blink your eyes..." Mira advises as she plays the drive in a portable movie-player.

* * *

In the security footage, Jim can see the gate entrance to Orlan's base heavily guarded with a pair of deployed Crucio Siege Tanks, a pair of Perdition Turrets and a row of Bunkers fully garrisoned by squads of Marines. Even more Marines, Marauders and Firebats are guarding in front of the entrance, and all of them appear to be fully alert. It seems that only a large army is capable of smashing through this defensive line.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a large explosion blasts right into the middle of the line, knocking all the guarding infantries off their feet. A second later, a second explosion pounds onto the same area; this time blasting a few Marines into bloody bits. The remaining defenders appear to be shocked by the sudden explosions, as they scramble and seem to be frantically searching for their assailants. However, before the remaining infantries and the defences can react, volleys of rockets appear out of nowhere and blast apart all Siege Tanks, turrets and Bunkers. Finally the footage ends when more than dozens of mysterious explosions rain upon the entire area, possibly the entire base as well. Nothing seems to have survived the sudden barrage, including the security camera itself before it ends abruptly, signifying its break-down by the generated shockwaves from the blasts.

* * *

Jim can only stare at the footage with a blank expression, still trying to figure out what had killed off Colonel Orlan and his forces. From what he has seen in the footage, he can only tell that the ex-Confederate officer had been attacked by some mysterious assailants... but that's all he knows for now. The footage has never shown the identity of the assailants.

"So... what do you think, James?" Mira asks.

"Whoa... talk about shock and awe! Whoever blasting those poor assholes must be sure merciless! Those Orlan's boys don't seem to see that coming! But that doesn't answer who has the adjutant." Tychus remarks.

"I agree, Tychus; whatever's hitting them, those guys seem to be taken completely by surprise. The question is who or what could have taken them out so quickly?" Jim comments.

"Err... let's see... big booms coming out from nowhere... no blinking lights... no flashes... I'll bet a hundred credits that it's gotta be Siege Tanks!" Tychus guesses.

"Hmm... I don't think so... if it's really Siege Tanks, Orlan's Siege Tanks should have responded. Those tanks appeared to be active and ready to blast back any long range assailants; but they didn't. Also, that doesn't explain those volleys of rockets." Jim points out.

"Besides they are eyesores and would be quickly noticed by my boys. What about those Dominion Banshees, James?" Mira guesses, "I've heard that those babies have devastating rocket ammunitions and can cloak themselves like the Wraiths do. Maybe that's why those Orlan's boys are caught off guard."

"Probably... but by judging the trajectory of those rockets, they seem to be fired from ground level! Unless the Banshees are hovering on ground level, which I think is unlikely, I don't think this is the work of Banshees!" Jim remarks.

"Okay, that's it!" Tychus suddenly shouts out, "I give up! I can't guess who or what is doing all these to Orlan!"

Before Jim can reprimand his partner's sudden outburst, he receives a transmission from Tray Randall back from _Hyperion_,

"_Sir... you'd better hurry! The adjutant is getting further and further away from your current location!"_

"Tray; now tell me where is the adjutant?" Jim asks.

"_According to the coordinates shown by our scanner, the adjutant is currently about 2 miles away from your current location, due north-northeast, and it's still on the move!"_

"Then we must hurry! But we must still be careful about our surroundings; whoever that destroyed Orlan's base may be still nearby, and we can't guarantee that we'll be next!"

"I can lend you some Vultures, James," Mira says, "we can let my bikers to scout the area and probably find out who is taking your adjutant and who or what have killed Orlan."

"Thanks a lot, Mira, I owe you one!"

* * *

(Later... about a mile and a half away from Mira's Mercs' base due north-northeast...)

A trio of Vultures is speeding towards north-northeast direction, looking for any signs of dangers as well as any forms of suspicious activities. They have been ordered by their boss lady to find something that should look like some kind of transport or convoy about some distance further away from their current location. They have also been warned that something may be out there; something that is deadly enough to lay waste of the poor double-crosser Orlan's base. Still, this should be nothing more but another thrill for the 3 bikers.

These are not ordinary Vulture bikers; they are members of a mercenary team known as the Jet Condors. Started out as a simple biker gang, the Jet Condors gradually became notorious band of highway raiders and mercenary group, well-known for their heavily customised Vulture rides and lightning fast strikes. These daredevils believe that they are the fastest and most skilled bikers in this sector and no one can catch them on their rides; not even the Dominion pilots or the Zergs.

As the modified twin ion thrusters of the 3 Jet Condor Vultures zoom across the junkyard landscape of Deadman's Port, the rider on the left wearing a pair of goggles, a cap and a scarf covering his entire mouth begins to ask, "Yo Boss; do ya know what the boss lady wants us to look for in this big pile o' junks? I see nothing but more piles o' trash around here!"

The middle biker, a dark-skinned man with a Mohawk haircut and a pair of sunglasses answers, "How the heck should I know, Rico! Boss lady told us to keep our eyes up for some transportation or anything that seems to be carrying a robot. That shouldn't be too difficult to spot in this junk wasteland!"

"Ya know, Boss?" the last rider on the right, with a prominent goatee and wearing a black bandana and a pair of sunglasses, voices out his concern, "This place is sure creeping me out! It's kinda too quiet for a scrap yard planet, don't ya think?"

"And that makes it more thrilling, Eddie! Don't tell me you've chickened out?"

"No, that's not what I'm concerned, Boss! I ain't afraid of anything! It's just that it's too quiet out here; don't ya think that ya having this gut feeling that something is going to be seriously wrong?" the rider on the right, Eddie, replies.

"Ya got that too, Eddie? I got this same feeling after leaving the Merc Haven compounds! It's like this is gonna be our last ride or something..." the rider on the left, Rico, remarks.

"There's nothing for us to fear, boys! We are the Jet Condors; we are the fastest and meanest bikers out there and no one is gonna catch us when we're on our ride! You can't die when no one can catch ya, can you?" the middle biker, the leader of the trio, exclaims.

"Oh yeah? Then how do ya explain Daffy 2 weeks ago?" Rico asks sarcastically.

"Just an engine blow-up, Rico." Boss replies, "That fool should know never to ride out when ya having a leaking thrusters"

"I hope that this job is worth doing it without me dying..." Eddie remarks, "I'm still gonna get that money for my new paintjob!"

"Don't worry, Eddie! As long as we keep our eyes open, there should be nothing that can catch us by surprise! YEEHAA!" Boss assures.

While the 3 modified Vultures speed across the scrap yard plains, they are unaware that something is already watching over them, and have begun to give chase...

* * *

(A few minutes later…)

The trio of Jet Condor bikers is still speeding towards north-northeast direction, still trying to find whatever suspicious activities or anything that is associated to transportation of a robotic adjutant. After minutes of speeding, the trio is beginning to feel bored of finding nothing exciting throughout their ride. The trio is just about to get frustrated of the lack of action, when Eddie suddenly spots something in a distance ahead of them.

"Hey Boss… what's that?"

Boss squints his eye as he tries to make out several figures sighted about less than a kilometre ahead of them, when he realises that his team has just made a breakthrough in their mission, "That looks like some kinda APC or something and some weirdos in black… hey guys; I think we've found our thieves..."

Suddenly, the trio hears a loud high-pitched whistle, before they realise a certain danger awaiting them.

"Ya hear that, boys... Oh shit! It's an arti… let's get out of here!" Boss immediately orders his minions.

Heeding their leader's warning, the other bikers immediately swerve aside... and narrowly miss a blast just a few metres away from their previous location!

BOOOOOOMMM!

"Whoa! That was close man!" Eddie exclaims, before hearing some more noises sounding from afar...

VROOM... VROOM... VROOOOOOMMM...

Boss gazes at the direction where the noises originate from, only to find 6 unidentified 2-wheeled bikes heading their way. Each of these bikes features a red bulbous cockpit and twin turbo boost engines, armed with 3 rocket pods. It is really rare these days to find wheeled bikes still hanging around, when hover bikes like Vultures supposed to have fully replaced them.

"Heads up boys... I think we've got company... and they don't look friendly!" Boss warns.

"So they want a piece of us, huh? Then we'll show them not to mess with us Jet Condors!" Rico boasts.

"Yeah! There's nothing for us to fear those obsolete-looking antique bikes!" Eddie joins in.

"Careful, fellas! I wouldn't underestimate them too much! They got the numbers! Those rocket pods ain't look just for show! And they are heading towards us, FAST!" Boss warns.

"Sounds challenging, isn't it, Boss?" Rico asks.

"Yeah! Looks like the odds are against us... but let's get wild! YEEHAAA!" Boss shouts out.

In response to their leader's thrilling shout, all the 3 Jet Condor Vultures speed towards their pursuers, despite their disadvantage in numbers. Noticing the approach of their targets, the 6 Attack Bikes wisely spread themselves further apart from one another, seemingly knowing how to avoid the enemies' dreaded frag grenades.

"Damn! The enemies' spreading out!" Eddie exclaims.

"It doesn't matter! We'll take them out one by one!" Boss states.

Suddenly, one of the enemy Attack Bikes unleashes its payload of Tiberium-core rockets towards the trio of Vultures.

"Shit! Incoming rockets! Dodge!" Boss yells, as he swerves his Vulture in an attempt to avoid the deadly rockets. Eddie and Rico do the same too, narrowly dodging the fatal projectiles.

However, before the Jet Condors can try to counterattack, the other 5 Attack Bikes launch their rockets as well.

"Oh crap! Heads up boys! This is gonna be on insane level!" Boss warns.

Once again, the Jet Condors swerve left and right to avoid the rockets. However, against a barrage coming from 5 bikes from 5 different directions, it is impossible to avoid all of the incoming fast-moving rockets.

BOOM!

"Dammit! I'm hit, Boss! I'm hit!" Rico calls out in distress.

"How bad is it?" Boss asks.

"Errm... I think it's just a graze... but that damn rocket almost took one of my engines off!"

"That's a close one I must say, Rico! You are one lucky son of a bitch! Now heads up boys, it's our turn!"

"YEAH!"

With their leader's declaration, the Jet Condors commence their counterattack, firing frag grenades in a rapid burst of fire with their modified frag grenade launcher. However, it seems that the enemy bikers are no slouch either. All 6 of them manage to swerve and avoid getting direct hits from the deadly grenades.

After a brief exchange of fire, the 2 groups of bikers, who are speeding towards each other, finally bypass each other's approach, leaving each other behind their trails.

"Boss; the enemies just zoomed pass us! They're right at our backs!" Eddie informs.

"I can see that!" Boss replies, "Okay listen up, guys; now I think it is stupid to fight them head on! These guys ain't amateurs, and their weapons are so much faster than ours! I say we let them chase us behind our tails, so that we can drop them a little surprise!"

"Sounds good to me, Boss! Just hope that they won't catch us from behind!" Eddie replies.

Following their leader's suggestion, the Jet Condors do not bother to U-turn and face against their opponents again. Instead, they resume their journey back towards the enemy convoy which they initially intended to destroy. Then Attack Bikes, seemingly realise the Jet Condors' intentions, immediately U-turn and chase the Vultures' tails.

"Boss, they're still right behind us!" Eddie yells.

"Hah! Just what we need! Alright, boys; time to give them a little present here!" Boss orders.

"Aye, aye, Boss!"

The 3 Jet Condor bikers immediately activate their Vultures' rear armament compartment and immediately drop 2 Spider Mines behind them each. One of the many modifications these bikers did to their bikes involved a much faster rate of depositing Spider Mines than other regular Vultures. Also, the Spider Mines used by these bikers were heavily upgraded with much improved mobility, faster crawling speed, and most importantly, bigger blast. Boss, Eddie and Rico are confident that their left over 6 Spider Mines will be enough to turn their pursuers into nothing more other than scrap metal.

Unfortunately, if these mercenaries understand the specs of their opponents, they will know that nothing can surprise an alert Nod Attack Bike.

Not only do the pursuing Attack Bikes know that their prey had dropped Spider Mines behind their paths, they even know where the mines are exactly hidden despite the modified Spider Mines have burrowed into underneath the ground as soon as they touch land. 3 Attack Bikes immediately swerve to the sides to avoid getting into the Spider Mines' range, while the other 3 unleash their Tiberium-core rocket payloads onto the hidden mines, destroying them outright and rendering the ambush weapons completely useless.

When Boss hears the explosions behind them, he turns his head back; believing that the Spider Mines have taken care of their pursuers. To his shock, all 6 enemy bikes are still there... unharmed!

"Dammit! The mines ain't working!" the leader of the trio rants out in frustration.

"How's that possible? Our surprises never failed us?" Rico wonders.

"It's like they f**king know where our presents hidden in!" Eddie comments.

Suddenly, the pursuing Attack Bikes begin to launch their rockets towards the fleeing Jet Condors again. Deadly streams of rockets zoom towards the trio of Vultures.

"Darn! This ride is TOO THRILLING!" Boss yells.

The Jet Condors swerve and dodge the incoming rockets, while cursing and swearing how close they are to their destruction. Unfortunately for Eddie, this is his last ride...

BOOOOOOMMM!

Eddie fails to dodge one of the rockets that manages to hit its mark and strike directly into one of the ion thrusters. The heavily damaged ion thrusters quickly turns unstable; and as it reacts with the residual Tiberium left by the offending rocket's warhead, the ion thrusters blows up violently, tearing the entire Vulture apart. Eddie does not stand a chance.

"Eddie!"

"Damn! They've got Eddie!"

"Boss! We can't let those assholes get away with that! We must avenge Eddie!"

"That's what I'm planning to do, Rico! Mission or no mission, no one's gonna mess with the Jet Condors without some retribution! Let's get them!"

"Aye aye, Boss!"

Planning to avenge their fallen comrade, the remaining 2 Jet Condors U-turn and speed straight towards their pursuers, ready to take the fight back to the Attack Bikes.

"Eat frags! Ya bitch!" Rico roars as he fires several rounds of frag grenades towards the Attack Bikes, forcing them to swerve aside to avoid the grenades. While Rico has the Attack Bikes distracted, Boss starts his own offence.

"Let's see ya get out of this!" Boss shouts as he unloads his rounds of frag grenades, forcing the Attack Bikes to swerve and dodge even more. This time, one of the Attack Bikes fails to fully avoid the relentless assaults from 2 Vultures. One frag grenade round launched by Boss manages to strike directly into the cockpit of one Attack Bike and completely blows up the entire front of the bike. With the rider blown to bits, the doomed bike tumbles as it loses control, breaking down into smaller pieces of metals, parts and tyres.

"Yeah! We got one!"

However, their celebrations have been cut short when the remaining 5 Attack Bikes launch their attacks again. Volleys of rockets speed towards the 2 Jet Condors, threatening to send them to the same plane of existence as their previously fallen comrade.

Boss, being the leader and the most experienced rider in the group, quickly focuses his attention to swerve and dodge the incoming rocket assaults with absolute calm. Rico, on the other hand, is still ecstatic on their previous victory over that single Attack Bike and fails to keep himself aware on his surroundings. As a result, before Rico can react to the rocket assaults, one rocket strikes into the previously grazed ion thrusters, blowing off one thrusters off from the Vulture.

"Shit! I'm hit, Boss, I'm hit!"

With one thrusters blown off, Rico is unable to manoeuvre his Vulture out of harm's way from several more incoming Tiberium-core rockets. Before he can utter another shout of desperation, the several more rockets pepper themselves onto the crippled Vulture, blowing it into a magnificent display of fireball. The entire Vulture has been obliterated.

"Dammit!" Boss yells as he realises he has just lost a second comrade. Now he is alone in this fight and even if he does not like to admit it, he knows that he has been outclassed by his adversaries. He knows that even with his superior riding skills, there is no way he can defeat 5 seemingly experienced bikers who are equipped with faster, deadlier and more versatile weapon systems. He has already been paid by his lady boss to scout out for the location of the enemy convoy and only to engage if he encounters small resistance. He is not going to die for this simple scouting mission and not getting his money.

"You win this time, punks! But you will pay for this!" Boss shouts to his opponents as he turns around and start to head back to base. On seeing that their last prey is about to escape, the Attack Bikes give chase. Realising that there are enemies on his tail, Boss calmly accelerates his Vulture to full speed while dropping all his remaining load of Spider Mines along his trail. He already knows that these Spider Mines seem to not work against the enemy bikes for some reason, but at least they can force the enemy bikes to take evasive manoeuvres and slow them down, giving him precious extra time to make his escape.

His plan seems to work; as he manages to get a significant distance away from the enemy bikes.

The truth is; the Attack Bikes have completed their task of driving off any intruders that threaten the safety of the convoy. After seeing the last Vulture speeding away from the battle at top speed, the Attack Bikes are convinced that the last Vulture no longer poses a threat and there is no need for them to give chase and get themselves caught in a possible enemy ambush. Besides, even if that surviving Vulture manages to return and inform about the location of the convoy, there are still other more dangerous defenders on their side that have yet to show themselves.

Satisfied for the moment, the Attack Bikes return and head back to the convoy. If those Terrans think that they fully know the strength of the convoy escorts, the Brotherhood will soon make them think again.

* * *

(Back in Mira's Mercs' base...)

"Boss lady, the Jet Condors had just returned; only one came back..." a goon informs the pink-haired mercenary, who is currently staring at a portable virtual battlefield minimap projector alongside with Jim Raynor.

"I sent 3 of them for a simple scouting mission and only one returned?" Mira scoffs, "Obviously those Jet Condors have been overrated! Did that lone survivor tell us who the thieves were?"

"He said that he spotted some kind of a convoy about 2 miles north-northeast away from our current location. He and his gang tried to give chase but almost got themselves blasted into oblivion by an unknown artillery blast. Shortly later, they got challenged by 6 of these weird wheeled bikes armed with rocket pods and got their asses kicked hard." The goon replies.

"Hold on a second," Jim cuts in the conversation, concerned when he hears about those "wheeled bikes armed with rocket pods"; that just sound too familiar...

"Can you describe those bikes?" the outlaw leader asks.

"Sure! That Mohawk head described those things to be rather small, compact closed-topped bikes run by 2 wheels. They are jet black in colour with a red bubble top window that protects the rider. Each of them is armed with 3 rocket pods of some kind."

"Does each of those bikes have this kind of symbol?" Jim asks again, while showing a hologram of a hexagon with a scorpion tail within in a small hologram projector.

"Yeah! That symbol is exactly what that Mohawk describes about those found on the enemy bikes! Never seen one of those before... you know them?"

"I'm afraid I do; those are Nod bikes! The Brotherhood of Nod is here! On Deadman's Port!" Jim replies.

"Brotherhood of Nod? Isn't that the bunch of mysterious guys who had overrun Mar Sara and humiliated Mengsk in the UNN channel?" Mira asks.

"It's those bunch of people alright!" Jim replies, "I can't believe that they are right here! I guess they must be the one responsible for taking Orlan out of the equation, but why?"

"I guess they must be after your adjutant too, James," Mira states, "after all, they must be the ones guarding that mysterious convoy that is taking your treasure away."

"I guess you're right, Mira! The coordinates of the adjutant seem to match to the suspected location of the Nod convoy that the Jet Condors just encountered. I guess we can assume that the Noddies got the adjutant right now!" Jim states. The term "Noddies" is thought up by himself and Tychus as a shorter name to refer to the Brotherhood of Nod soldiers or related people.

"Noddies, huh?" Mira chuckles at the slang term, "I think I like that term. Alright, James, so what are you planning to do right now? It is obvious that those guys have your adjutant and they don't seem to want to give it up; do you still want to go after it?"

Jim ponders about the mercenary's question. After his first encounter against the forces of Nod on Mar Sara, Jim knows that the Noddies are no less dangerous than the forces of Dominion or the Zerg Swarm. Those people are far more organised, more aggressive, more advanced and more cunning than Mengsk's forces. If given a choice, Jim would rather choose to face against a squadron of Dominion forces than fight against an equally sized well-armed Nod forces. However, right now, the Noddies have something that he direly needs to have an edge over his main arch-nemesis: Arcturus Mengsk. Whatever the reasons why the Noddies want the old Confederate adjutant for, it is pretty obvious of its absolute value; perhaps the Noddies also want to use whatever information found inside the adjutant against Mengsk as well.

Jim is now wondering whether he should let those Noddies take the adjutant away. If it is true that they share the same goal of fighting against Mengsk's regime like they are, then perhaps he should leave them be. However, after some considerations, Jim decides not to let the Noddies to do as they pleased. He can still recall the situation as similar to what the Sons of Korhal, later the Dominion, did to overthrow the Confederacy's regime; a potential tyrant replacing another tyrant. Based on the actions done by the Noddies in the Mar Sara Insurrection, Jim is pretty sure that Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod are no saints as they claimed to be; who call throwing thousands of poorly-armed civilian militant soldiers to their deaths as necessary justice? The way as how they run their things, Jim feels that these guys are no better than the Confederates or the Dominion. If these guys win, this galaxy may possibly find itself under the dictatorship of another new tyrant.

This is not what his revolution is about!

"Of course I'm going to go after it!" the Raiders' leader replies, "Whatever the reasons why the Noddies are taking away the adjutant, I am not going to let them use it and make themselves look like heroes! These guys are no better than the Sons of Korhal, and I'm not going to repeat the same mistake of allowing another tyrant to run the show!"

"Alright, James... although I don't know about those... Noddies... I trust your judgement..." Mira comments, "But still, how are you going to get it back?"

"Well, according to that last remaining Jet Condor, the enemy doesn't seem to posses aerial units in this area. They seem to have some artilleries hidden here somewhere, but they appear to rely on some light units to defend their convoy. I guess it's time to use those Diamondbacks again."

"Diamondbacks? You got those things? I thought they're new!" Mira asks.

"They're new alright, but I did have a couple of them. Those babies prove useful in the train raid that I've just conducted on Tarsonis not too long ago. Heck, if without their help, I would not even find that adjutant in the first place." Jim replies.

"Alright then, I will lend my Factories to help you build more of those Diamondbacks. I really wish to see how those things perform in an actual battle."

"Oh, don't worry Mira, I guarantee that you won't be disappointed!"

"We'll see..."

* * *

(A few moments later...)

"What needs killing?"

An armoured column of a dozen Diamondback hover tanks is on the roll. They are now heading towards the direction where the Nod column was last sighted. Their mission is simple: pursue the enemy convoy and retake the Confederate adjutant; as for the Nod escorts... zap them.

"Found them, sir... railguns at the ready, moving in to crush them!" the tank commander in the lead Diamondback reports, as he leads the entire column to move in for the kill. With their relatively fast hover tanks that are swift enough to catch up with railway trains, a slow lumbering Armoured Personnel Carrier escorted by some infantries are easy prey for these heavily armoured tanks.

"This is Diamondback-9 reporting back to Diamondback-1; hostiles incoming from 2 o' clock!" one of the Diamondback operators reports to the lead Diamondback tank commander.

"I see them! It's those Nod bikes and there are 5 of them. All units; prepare to engage the enemies!"

The offending Nod Attack Bikes, the same ones that took out Eddie and Rico earlier, zoom in towards the Diamondback column in order to protect the convoy carrying their precious cargo. As the Attack Bikes get in range, they launch their volleys of Tiberium-core rockets towards the opposing hover tanks. Once their rockets are fired, the Attack Bikes attempt to turn tail and return for another hit-and-run assault; a usual procedure for destroying enemy armoured column.

However, unknown to these Attack Bikes, the Diamondbacks are not ordinary tanks. Although these hover tanks are smaller than the more commonly sighted Crucio-class Siege Tanks, they are actually more heavily armoured and more durable than their more conventional cousins. What's more, their armaments are suitably designed to take out fast moving targets such as these Attack Bikes.

The rocket barrage only manages to destroy one Diamondback while damaging the others, but the Diamondbacks' retaliation causes more casualties. Before the Attack Bikes can successfully turn away and use their superior speed to escape from enemy fire, the remaining 11 Diamondbacks quickly move in and unleash their railgun capacitors. Despite being the fastest Nod ground vehicle, the Attack Bikes are still not fast enough to dodge railgun shots, and their paper thin armour means that these bikes are destroyed almost instantly when the railguns rip the tiny vehicles apart. Only 2 out of 5 Attack Bikes successfully avoid the railgun fire and move out of the Diamondbacks' range.

* * *

(About 2 miles away from the Nod convoy... inside Nod base in Deadman's Port...)

Within the Construction Yard of the temporarily established Nod base of operations in Deadman's Port, Agent Archie is monitoring the progress of the convoy through the battlefield command interface in the Construction Yard's command room. It seems that it will still take some time before the APC can transport the cargo back to this base.

The young, long haired blond with a messy, unshaven chin is one of the Commander's most trusted right-hand men. Most of the time, he had been following the Commander in his missions; but not this time. This time, he had been entrusted by his superior to conduct this mission of retrieving this Confederate adjutant in the name of Kane.

Agent Archie can still recall every word that his superior had told him regarding on this mission. According to the Commander, their spies working undercover in the Dominion's bastion on Tarsonis had recently uncovered an adjutant that belonged to the Terran Confederacy. The adjutant itself was nothing special; it was the information it held that was of great importance.

From the reports submitted by their spies, the adjutant had captured the transmission between the Dominion tyrant Arcturus Mengsk, the outlaw leader James Eugene Raynor and the fallen Ghost agent Sarah Kerrigan. That transmission was the one that pointed out of Mengsk's treachery by ordering for the use of a psi emitter to lure the Zergs in overrunning and killing off the Confederate forces on Tarsonis during the Fall of Tarsonis in the First Great War. That day was also the day when Mengsk betrayed his most trusted subordinate, Sarah Kerrigan, by abandoning her on the stricken planet, allowing the Zergs to take her away. Ironically, this treachery had been the starting cause for the birth of the most powerful entity in the universe today.

It was this evidence of treachery that had gained the attention of the Brotherhood. Kane had informed the Commander that this piece of evidence would be an important key in exposing the evil emperor's crimes against humanity and would no doubt further weaken the Dominion. The Commander had been eager to obtain the adjutant and the evidence it held, and was even ready to command a task force to invade Tarsonis, not until when Kane ordered him to return and defend Bhekar Ro from a possible Dominion invasion. Eventually, the Commander decided to follow his orders and passed this mission to get hold of the evidence to his trusted aide.

For Agent Archie, this was a chance to prove himself to make both the Commander and Kane proud. After accompanying his superior for some time, Archie was confident that he would have the tactical mind and skills necessary to carry out and succeed in this mission. With a sizeable task force, he had almost about to launch an invasion into Tarsonis, until an new report from the spies on Tarsonis had informed that the adjutant had already been stolen by Raynor's Raiders.

Archie was furious when he heard this news, and was eager to find those mercenaries' ship and wipe them out from this world. Before he could recklessly order for the search of the _Hyperion_, Archie suddenly recalled that Kane had already planted a secret spy among the crew of _Hyperion_. In order to resume his mission, Archie decided to politely ask for any information regarding about the spy working on board of _Hyperion _from the messiah himself. Surprisingly, Kane generously told him everything he needed to know about the information of the adjutant on board the mercenaries' vessel as relayed by the spy, including the fact that the Raynor's Raiders had guessed its hidden value, but had yet to decrypt the adjutant to extract the precious evidence needed to dethrone Mengsk. Hence Archie knew that Raynor had brought the adjutant to an expert on Confederate decryption working on Deadman's Port; hoping that the ex-Confederate officer could decrypt the adjutant. To Archie, this was the opportunity that he needed to take the adjutant away in the name of Kane.

The task force that Agent Archie had been given for this mission is mainly stealth-oriented with few heavy vehicles and does not have as much manpower and equipment as the ones that had participated in the Battle of Mar Sara. Hence Archie knew that the best way of getting the adjutant from the mercenary forces is by a surprise sneak attack that must completely cripple the mercenary forces to the point that they are unable to recover. By secretly landing on Deadman's Port, Archie had a base set up in a secret location close to the mercenary's base, and build up a sizeable force of infantries and light vehicles mainly for escorting the Armoured Personnel Carrier needed to transport the adjutant back to their base. When his scouts had reported that the mercenary's base did not have any detectors, Archie knew how to commence his operation.

With a sudden assault conducted exclusively by stealth units, they had successfully flattened almost the entire base, leaving no chance for the enemy to retaliate. His Shadow Warriors later moved in and found the thing they needed, before levelling down the remaining structures in the destroyed base with C4. The convoy moved in and transport the cargo in the form of the adjutant away from the destroyed base.

However, just as the operation was about to proceed smoothly, Archie received news that the raiders had arrived on Deadman's Port; and they had hired another band of mercenaries to aid them in securing their adjutant back. Archie knows that his own forces lack the manpower to defeat 2 large forces of mercenary soldiers; hence he had to end this mission quickly and get the adjutant off-world before the raiders find them. He knows that his forces are not ready to confront the mercenaries in a long drawn-out battle. Unfortunately for him, they did find them in the end. Although his defending escorts of Attack Bikes had successfully beaten off the first wave of raiding Vultures, Archie is aware that the next wave of raiders will be approaching at any moment.

And now, he is aware of the 2nd wave of raiders. It turns out to be a dozen of Diamondback hover tanks. Although Archie has never encountered these new vehicles, he had heard rumours of these developing heavy hover tanks that are armed with twin railgun capacitors that can fire on the move, making them excellent raiding units. So far, these tanks had proven to be more than a match against his Attack Bikes; and he knows that the infantries escorting the APC would be easy pickings for these deadly heavy tanks too.

"Sir! This is Recon-2 reporting..." a transmission originating from one of the surviving Attack Bike escorts is picked up in the command room, "the enemy tanks are too heavily armoured... and their railguns are too fast even for our bikes! We request for reinforcements!"

"Reinforcements will be en route! Recon-2, pick your team up and order them to harass the Diamondbacks, but do not engage them directly! Hold them off from the cargo before the reinforcements arrive!" Archie orders.

"Got it!"

Agent Archie immediately patches in to the reinforcements that he is about to send to defeat the Diamondbacks. These reinforcements are actually quite close to the convoy location; because they are the ones that are responsible for laying waste of Orlan's base in the first place. Now, they will have a new bunch of pests to exterminate.

* * *

(Back to the Diamondbacks...)

The Diamondback column had just successfully decimated the offending Attack Bikes, leaving none standing. Their fast-firing and versatile twin railgun capacitors had proven effective against those lightly armoured bikes despite the enemy bikes' advantages in speed and agility. So far, only 2 Diamondbacks are lost to the hit-and-run assaults of those Attack Bikes, which is not a heavy loss. With 10 Diamondbacks still operational, this force is still more than enough to take out an APC and its small infantry escort force.

Unknown to them, the escort force of the Nod convoy is actually much larger than they have anticipated...

Suddenly, without warning, a large powerful blast strikes into the middle of the Diamondback column, blasting one of them into smouldering piles of scrap metal. Seconds later, another several more blasts bombard the formation of the railgun-armed hover tanks, destroying another 2 more.

BOOOOOOMMM!

"Diamondback-9 to Diamondback-1; we've been hit by artillery fire!"

"This is Diamondback-1 to all Diamondbacks; keep your eyes sharp and find where those artillery shells come from! We need to locate the site of the enemy artilleries and take them out before they annihilate all of us!"

All the surviving Diamondbacks start to swivel their turrets around in hoping to find the source where the artillery fire came from. Unfortunately, for some reasons, they are unable to locate any possible site of the enemy artilleries. Still, the enemy artillery barrage resumes.

BOOOOOOMMM!

"This is Diamondback-6; I'm hit! I'm hit! I'm... BOOOOOOMMM... bzztt... bzztt... bzzzttt..."

"Dammit! We've lost Diamondback-6! Have you guys found the enemy artilleries?"

"Negative, Diamondback-1! I still can't see where they're coming from... BOOOOOOMMM... bzzt... bzztt... bzzzttt..."

With only 6 of them remaining, the Diamondbacks attempt to move quickly out of the area of enemy artillery barrage. However, suddenly, out of nowhere again, a huge volley of rockets streaks towards the surviving Diamondbacks.

"Watch out! Rockets incoming!" the lead Diamondback tank commander tries to warn his squad mates.

In an instant, another 2 more already severely damaged Diamondbacks have been destroyed into immobile heap of metal.

"Darn! Where do those rockets come from?" one of the surviving Diamondback crew wonders.

Then, a second volley of rockets, also seemingly coming out of nowhere, is fired upon another badly damaged Diamondback, shutting it down for good.

The lead Diamondback tank commander realises that the situation is very grim for them. With ¾ of their forces instantly wiped out by artillery and rocket barrage from unknown sources, it will be a matter of time before they will be wiped out as well. He needs to call for help... NOW!

"This is Diamondback-1 back to base; we're under assault by unknown source of artillery and rocket fire! Requesting base support immediately! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

* * *

(Back in Mira's Mercs' base...)

"What... the heck ... has just... happened?" Tychus wonders as he and his buddy watches the live satellite footage of their Diamondbacks in action. Those boys initially had almost everything wrapped up; eliminating enemy Attack Bikes and closing in onto the enemy convoy, when out of a sudden, artillery fire and rocket barrage from unknown sources started to tear the armoured column apart.

"This doesn't make any sense! There must be a source of where those attacks are coming from!" Jim shouts out in frustration as he watches his men dying in a battle against some unknown assailants.

"Hell... I can't find anything that's firing onto those poor guys! Is that some kind of a trick?" Tychus wonders.

"Hmm... I can't be so sure about this, James, but didn't you notice that?" Mira remarks.

"Notice what?" the raiders' leader asks.

"Didn't you see that... oh pardon me! I forgot that you guys don't have the ocular implant that I have in my right eye. While you guys have been focusing on your Diamondback boys, my right eye did notice some kind of faint glimmer just behind and on the right side of your tank column, and on the top of the ledge just right next to the enemy convoy."

"What?" Jim is startled when he hears Mira's words. Now he is starting to have the rough idea of what is going on. "It can't be... Tray, order a full scanner sweep on the right rear end of our Diamondback column and on the ledge right next to the enemy convoy!"

"_Yes sir!"_

"What's going on, buddy? You know what's behind all these booms?" Tychus asks, still confused on what is going on.

Jim ignores his blue giant friend and concentrates his focus on the scanner sweep image of the intended scanning locations. Soon enough, thermal imaging from the Orbital Command Centre's scanner sweep shows several thermal images on the suspected sites; images that do not belong to their units.

"What... the hell... are those?" Tychus asks.

"Ingenious... I must say..." Mira remarks.

"Now this explains everything... never thought that those Noddies can come up with... those kinds of weapons." Jim states.

* * *

Through the scanner sweep, there are several thermal images that reveal the identity and location of the things that are firing at the Diamondbacks. On the rear end to the right of the Diamondback column, there are about half a dozen vehicles which are about the same size as the Diamondbacks. These vehicles have a rather flat disc-shaped profile, with 4 threads that are sprawled widely apart from one another in all 4 corners of the vehicles. On the top of each of these vehicles are what appears to be 2 multi-rocket pods.

On the top of the ledge close to the enemy convoy, are half a dozen quadruped walkers with a large plasma shock cannon mounted on its back similar to those used by Siege Tanks. Each of these walkers have their 4 broad insect-like legs spread widely apart and are currently dug deep into the scrap metal soil of the ledge. Without warning, these walkers fire their guns, launching long range plasma shells that successfully knock out another one Diamondback.

* * *

"Cloaking tanks... and artilleries? Ya gotta be kidding me!" Tychus remarks.

"Dammit, why I didn't think of that earlier? Why Orlan can't retaliate against the Nod assaults and why my boys didn't see anything firing at them... that can only be one explanation: the enemies' are cloaking themselves!" Jim points out, as he reprimands himself for his idiocy of not realising this obvious answer quickly.

"Don't feel bad about yourself, James..." Mira tries to comfort her old friend and temporary employer, "Honestly no one would have expected these kinds of weapons. Just think about it; we know there are cloaking Ghosts, cloaking Protoss and cloaking aircrafts... but have you heard of cloaking terran tanks and artilleries? Seriously, this is the first time I have even heard about them, let alone seen them! Still, you must give compliments to these Noddies; they are really creative to come up with these ideas, aren't they?"

"So... what's our next plan, Jimmy?" the blue-clad Marine asks, "Now we know what's hitting us... and it seems those guys ain't going to make it... are ya still insisting on getting that old pile of junk back?"

"I don't know... we don't have any support utility crafts like a Science Vessel or a Raven with us. Scanner sweeps alone isn't efficient enough to root out this many cloaked vehicles. I guess we need to at least pull back those poor guys before the Noddies completely eliminate them."

"O...kay... errmm... I think it's a little too late for them..." Tychus states as he points at the thermal image of the cloaked tanks firing another massive volley of rockets at the remaining 2 Diamondbacks.

* * *

(Back to the Diamondbacks...a few seconds earlier...)

"This is Diamondback-1 to Diamondback-3; we've received orders to retreat immediately! Fall back!" the lead Diamondback tank commander orders the other remaining Diamondback to retreat back to base.

"Sir! We've received a scanner sweep image from the Orbital Command Centre; we've got the positions of the enemy targets; they're all cloaked!" the other Diamondback crew reports.

"Got it, Diamondback-3! Still, retreat is now our primary objective! Lay down suppressive fire with our railguns against the enemy positions as marked by the scanner sweep while we break through the enemy encirclement!"

"Understood, Diamondback-1!"

The 2 remaining Diamondbacks immediately turn tail and head back towards the base. Even though the scanner sweep from the base has located the cloaked enemy units' positions, they are now hopelessly outnumbered. They are not going to stay and continue fighting a losing battle.

As the 2 Diamondbacks try to get away from the battle, they fire their twin railguns at the position of one of the hidden hostile units. The railguns strike their target, causing a bright shimmer that spreads across the target's frame like a ripple. At the same time, smoke begins to belch out from the stricken target.

Realising that their positions have been discovered, the cloaked Nod vehicles that are tailing the Diamondbacks on the rear begin to de-cloak and reveal themselves. They appear as flat, disc-shaped vehicles with 4 threads sprawled out across the 4 corners of the vehicle frame. Each of them is armed with 2 sets of multi-rocket systems mounted on the back. They are all painted black, with red LED glow shimmering across the corners of the vehicle frames. These are the latest generation of the Brotherhood of Nod's Stealth Tanks.

These latest generation of Stealth Tanks have been installed with the Ezekiel-class stealth generator like the Chameleon self-propelled artillery systems, allowing them to fire their Mantis-class multi-rocket system at their targets while remained cloaked at the same time as long as there is enough energy for the Ezekiel reactor to spare. The Mantis-class multi-rocket system launches a massive volley of a dozen laser-guided Tiberium-core rockets against both ground and aerial targets, allowing the Stealth Tank to easily knock out enemy tanks and aircrafts. Combined with the Ezekiel-class stealth generator, the Stealth Tank is an excellent ambush unit that can eliminate its target in an instant.

However, like the Chameleon Artillery, the Stealth Tank suffers from a severe lack of armour; making itself a vulnerable target to enemy fire if exposed. Right now, one of the Stealth Tanks is now on the brink of destruction after getting struck by railgun fire from the remaining 2 Diamondbacks. Worse still, it will be another several more seconds before the Mantis rocket system is reloaded and ready to fire again.

While on the retreat, the 2 Diamondbacks fire their twin railguns at the same target again; this time, completely shredding the previously damaged Stealth Tank into a derelict tank remains. However, their victory is short lived, when the remaining Stealth Tanks unleash their Mantis multi-rockets against the Diamondbacks with vengeance. The rocket barrage instantly obliterates both Diamondbacks, leaving burning wreckages in its wake.

With all hostiles eliminated, the Stealth Tanks cloak themselves again, disappearing from plain view; ready to spring their traps again if another wave of hostiles are to come.

* * *

(Back in Mira's Mercs' base...)

"Well... too bad for these guys!" Tychus responds sarcastically to the loss of the entire Diamondback column.

"Hey! That's my men you're talking to!" Jim scolds his partner for treating the loss of his soldiers as if it is not a big deal.

"So... what's our next move, James?" Mira asks.

The infamous outlaw turns towards the pink-haired mercenary and asks, "Mira, do you have any detector crafts like a Science Vessel or a Raven?" The mercenary replies by shaking her head.

"Sorry, James. If it's detection you need, I only got those static Missile Turrets."

"Damn!" Jim sighs in frustration. Without a detecting unit, there is no way for Jim to keep his attacking forces safe from those Nod ambushes. Although he still has the Orbital Command Centre to conduct a scanner sweep, using just scanner sweeps alone to reveal enemy cloaked units will be very inefficient if the Noddies have shown to them that they can keep almost anything hidden from plain sight; besides the burrowing transports and tanks and cloaked aircrafts that they have witnessed on Mar Sara.

"_Sir..."_ a sudden transmission from Tray Randall on board of _Hyperion_ cuts in and disrupts Jim's thinking, _"We need to hurry! Our scanner sweep has revealed that the Nod convoy is now currently only about 1 mile away from what seems to be a Nod base of operations!"_

"A Nod base?" Mira is surprised, "My boys have been scouting this entire section when we first landed! If the Noddies have constructed a base of operations, we should have known a long time ago!"

"I agree with pinkie!" Tychus remarks, earning an annoyed glare from the pink-haired mercenary beside him, "We didn't even pick any signs of Noddie base around this section before we made planetfall! It's gotta be a mistake!"

"_We didn't find that Nod base at first because those bastards actually know how to hide their buildings too!" _Tray replies, resulting in the shocked looks of the 3 leading commanders in this base, _"The initial scan shows no signs of Nod forces, but a scanner sweep from the Orbital Command Centre shows a small Nod base of operations just about a mile away from that Nod convoy. I ordered a scanner sweep from the orbit because I was wondering where would that Nod convoy head to if they have no other transports in the vicinity; and that's how I discovered that Nod base! They seem to have cloaked their entire base using several strange towers that seem to be generating a kind of cloaking field!"_

"Dammit! Now we need those Science Vessels or Ravens urgently! If the Noddies are able to cloak their base as well, it's going to be too dangerous to send anymore of our boys to get the adjutant back!" Jim rants after hearing the status of their enemy forces. Right now, he knows that they are too ill-equipped to take on this kind of enemy: well-hidden and hard-hitting.

"So... ya giving up, buddy?" Tychus asks.

"I guess we'll have to let those Noddies take the adjutant... for now." Jim replies, "Let's hope that they wouldn't find our tracking beacon inside that adjutant, else we would never know where they're taking that piece of metal to."

"Wow, I never knew that you would give up this easily, James!" Mira exclaims, "Normally you'll fight till the very last end and will always manage to pull off a miracle! Are those Noddies really too much for you to handle?"

"Well... not exactly," the outlaw leader replies, "it's just that we may still have another chance to retake that adjutant as long as we still have its signal in our scanners. But right now, I need to find a way in countering the Noddies' stealth and hit-and-run tactics. Only when I'm prepared then I'll face them in a showdown!"

Just then, another transmission from Tray cuts into the midst of the trio's discussion, _"Sir! I apologise for interrupting your discussion again, sir, but Stetmann just told me that his latest research may allow us to build our own Science Vessel or Raven! He says that he needs to find at least another one more piece of Protoss relic before he can start his work."_

"Protoss relics, huh? I guess you're in luck, boys!" Mira announces to the Raynor's Raiders, "This scrap yard planet is full of scraps, and that includes those coming from the Protoss! My boys have already uncovered 3 pieces of Protoss relics around this section; if you can find hard enough, I guess you should be able to find another one somewhere here."

"Thanks, Mira! I owe you again!" Jim thanks the pink-haired woman.

"Anytime, James. Just remember to help me ask Matthew on why he never called."

* * *

(About half an hour later... inside the Nod base...)

The Armoured Personnel Carrier along with its infantry escorts have finally arrived at the base. As the transport vehicle stops in front of a Carryall equipped with a Thanatos-class stealth generator, Nod personnel begins unloading the precious cargo that will be heading towards Bhekar Ro; where their main galactic broadcast station will be once again used to expose the crimes of the oppressive dictator known as Arcturus Mengsk.

Behind the APC and its escorts, the Stealth Tanks and the Chameleon Artilleries reveal themselves as they are running low in energy in their Ezekiel reactors. Nevertheless, they have safely returned to base and are now perfectly safe. Any intruders that are foolish enough to try to chase them back into their base would have met the fury of their arrays of defensive turrets and more deployed Chameleons.

In just a few minutes time, the team of Nod personnel has quickly moved the adjutant from the APC into the Carryall without damaging it. With their jobs done, a second team of Nod personnel, comprising of Saboteurs and Technicians, accompanies the cargo by entering the Carryall as well.

"You, there! Head Technician Rex!" A Confessor among the infantry escort calls out to the lead Technician accompanying the adjutant inside the Carryall.

"Yeah?"

"Tend this cargo well. The great prophet requires it to be sent safely to Bhekar Ro in one intact piece! It is highly needed for the great prophet's plans! Any damage to the cargo during its transport to Bhekar Ro will mean your life to be forfeited! Is that clear?"

"Okay!"

With the adjutant entrusted into the hands of the second team of Nod personnel, the Carryall shuts its cargo hatch before lifting off and heading towards the orbit. There it will meet up with a Basilisk Warship that will bring it and its cargo into warp space towards Bhekar Ro.

* * *

(Inside the Nod Construction Yard command room...)

Agent Archie is pleased; he has accomplished his mission of retrieving the adjutant that contains the sensitive information that would work against the favour of the corrupted Terran Dominion. Now, the right-hand man of the Commander is just about to start making preparations for leaving this junkyard wasteland when a hologram projection suddenly appears right in front of his command interface. The projection shows no other than the messiah himself:

Kane!

"Sir! It's an honour to be visited by your great presence!" Archie immediately greets the supreme commander of the Brotherhood of Nod.

"_At ease, my child!" _the prophet replies, _"Excellent work, Agent Archie! I see why the Commander has been recommending you for this assignment. I believed in you that you can accomplish this task without much problem; and I see that I'm not disappointed in the end. You have done well, my child, and now it is time for you return to Bhekar Ro along with the adjutant. Soon we would extract the information within that adjutant and expose the sins of the dictator to the entire Terran Dominion! All the people will soon shout out in rage and demand for justice; demand for the blood of the oppressors; and demand vengeance! Mengsk will soon fall from his throne of power and shall only face... death! Now, return to Bhekar Ro, my child, the final victory against the corrupt and tyrannical regime of the Terran Dominion is about to draw to a close!"_

"Yes sir! Am I going to deliver the adjutant immediately to the main broadcast station, sir?"

"_No, my child! Not right now! I know that you are impatient of making the Dominion pay, but the time is not at the right moment now. There is the urgent news that the Dominion had just recently discovered our galactic broadcast station on Bhekar Ro... and our informers had told us that the corrupted emperor had dispatched the Delta Squadron and the Nova Squadron to seize control of the planet. If the Dominion forces is to attack, they will strike at the main broadcast station first. If the adjutant had been sent to the main broadcast station, no doubt the Dominion forces will discover the adjutant and reclaim it back to hide their dark secrets! We must not let that happen!"_

"So what are your instructions, sir?"

"_Once you've landed on Bhekar Ro, I want you to relocate the adjutant in the Bhekar Ro Outpost no. 20. While the Commander will be commanding the troops to fight off the Dominion invasion, you would be tasked in protecting the adjutant from the hands of the Dominion."_

"I understand, sir! I would do as you command!"

"_Good! Now go, my child! Time is short; you must relocate the adjutant before the Dominion forces arrive!"_

As the hologram projection of Kane is cut off, Agent Archie begins to follow the orders recently given by the great prophet.

"Alright man! You heard our great messiah; we need to pack up and head back to Bhekar Ro before those blasted Dominon find us! Now move!"

For the next few hours, the Nod base in Deadman's Port would be busy making preparations of leaving this junkyard world.

* * *

(Augustgrad Palace... Korhal IV...)

Arcturus Mengsk is waiting... waiting for the response of Agent 12-862 (1). As the emperor of the Dominion sits in front of his computer terminal, lighting up a cigar in his mouth, the terminal flickers into life when an incoming transmission finally takes place.

"RECEIVING INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM AGENT 12-862... STANDBY..."

A real-life footage of a young, beautiful looking blonde woman appears in the terminal screen. She is dressed in a grey and white Ghost hazard suit, with a pair of spec ops vision goggles positioned above her eye-level and on her forehead. She has green eyes and her blond hair has been pulled back and tied into a pony tail.

"_This is Agent Nova Terra reporting for duty, sir! How can I be of your service?" _the Ghost agent, now identified as Nova Terra, greets the Dominion's ageing supreme leader.

"Agent Nova; I have an important mission for you. You are to be assigned to the Nova Squadron under Colonel Akira Yamada in this operation to retake Bhekar Ro. Your main objective is to infiltrate the broadcast station used by the terrorist organisation ,the Brotherhood of Nod, and extract as many information about this terrorist faction as possible from that station. After the extraction, you are to destroy that broadcast station by any means necessary!"

"_Understood sir! But what is the status of my current assignment on the assassination of the Specter agent Gabriel Tosh?"_

"That assignment would have to be postponed for the time being. Until the threat of the Brotherhood of Nod has been dealt with, all missions regarding on Project: Shadowblade would be considered as of secondary importance."

"_Yes sir!"_

"Good! And one more thing: if you happened to encounter Kane in your mission, you are not to assassinate that man. That man currently has the backings of the general public through his lies; assassinating him would be as bad as assassinating Raynor; that would only give him a hero's death like a martyr. If you do find him, you are to arrest and capture that man... alive! He has to be brought back to Korhal so that we can force him to admit his lies and expose all his crimes to the people! Remember; Kane must be captured... alive!"

"_Understood sir! I will now proceed to carry on my mission... Nova out!"_ with that, the transmission between the emperor and his trusted assassin has been ended.

Mengsk takes another puff of tobacco in his mouth, thinking, 'Soon... Kane! After I get hold of all of your plans and secrets, I will turn your proud creations against your cowardly group! Soon... the Brotherhood of Nod would be nothing more but a forgotten name in the history of mankind!'

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Space Assault

The Battle for Bhekar Ro has begun, when a joint fleet of Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron launched a space fleet assault against Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, where a Nod orbital defence base is situated. Can the Dominion fleet overcome the Nod's orbital defences?

* * *

(1) Agent 12-862 is actually the designated name of Nova in Starcraft: Ghost before the novel _Spectres_ recently revealed a new code name. When I first mentioned this code name in the previous chapter, that was before the release of _Spectres_, so don't be surprised when you find a different code name when you surf the Starcraft wikia.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Stealth Tank

Role: Advanced anti-air/anti-armour ambush vehicle

Armament: Mantis laser-guided multi-rocket system; Ezekiel-class stealth generator; Ezekiel reactor

Appearance: Similar to the C&C3 Stealth Tank, except it has 4 threads instead of 3 like the other versions

With history dating back to the First Tiberium Wars, the Stealth Tank is the Nod's icon for the Brotherhood's technological edge over its oppressive rival. Armed with the Mantis laser-guided multi-rocket system, which is upgradeable with Tiberium-core rockets, and the Ezekiel-class stealth generator, the newest generation of Stealth Tanks is capable of firing a dozen rockets in a single volley while remained cloaked as long as there is enough energy stored inside its upgradeable Ezekiel reactor; making the Stealth Tank a rather fast moving ambush unit which excels in eliminating its target in an instant. However, like its predecessor, the Stealth Tank sacrifices its armour for its stealth capability, making it highly vulnerable if exposed. Hence Stealth Tank commanders are told to monitor the energy levels of their Ezekiel reactors carefully during missions; and are advised not to engage an enemy in a direct confrontation if its stealth generator has run out of energy or malfunctioned.

* * *

Scorpion Tank vs. Crucio Siege Tank (Tank mode)

Thanks to the suggestion by MegaAuthor, I decide to make this next comparison between a Nod Scorpion Tank in this story against a Crucio-class Siege Tank in tank mode. The reason why the Crucio will be in tank mode only because this is going to be a battle between two kinds of main battle tanks rather than a tank vs an artillery platform. Besides, with the Scorpion Tank's burrowing ability, the ability of the Siege Tank to enter Siege mode will not influence the outcome of this battle too much.

**Scorpion Tank:**

The Nod Scorpion Tank is a highly iconic main battle tank favoured by the Brotherhood of Nod for generations. Moderately fast moving and armed with a powerful long range Tails laser cannon, the latest generation of Scorpion Tanks is able to attack both enemy air and ground targets while on the move. Its laser cannon can easily sear through any forms of heavy armour with ease, with the only drawback of having quite a slow firing rate compared to most other Nod anti-armour weapons systems such rocket weapons. Like its namesake, the Scorpion Tank is shaped like a scorpion, completed with a pair of pincer-shaped EMP claws designed to grasp and shut down mechanical units. While it grasps its prey, the Scorpion Tank will proceed to slowly tear its helpless victim apart with its Tail laser cannon. The Scorpion Tank is also capable of burrowing and travelling underground like some Zergs, making it an excellent ambush unit especially when combined with its EMP claws attack. However, like most other Nod units, the Scorpion Tank suffers from the weakness of having relatively lighter armour compared to weapons of the same class from other factions.

**Siege Tank:**

Compared to the older Arclite-class Siege Tank, the newer Crucio-class Siege Tank is a better combatant in direct tank to tank combat. Armed with rapid-firing twin 90mm plasma cannons and protected with heavy tank armour, the Crucio Siege Tank is a versatile tank that is able to combat most opponents in an open battlefield even if not deployed. Although it is more than a match against most lighter enemies such as infantries, Goliaths, Protoss Stalkers, and Zerg Roahes, the Crucio suffers from the weakness of unable to defend itself from aerial threats. Also, the Crucio does not have advanced sensory systems to detect hidden units, making it vulnerable to sneak attacks. Despite its size and armour, the Crucio can be quite vulnerable without support and can still be easily disabled in the midst of battle; especially proven by the fact that a smaller Diamondback hover tanks can endure more hits than a Siege Tank.

**Comparison**

Both tanks are designed for direct assault, although the nature of their weapons are very different. The Scorpion Tank's laser cannon is capable of firing from a longer distance and has a stronger armour piercing firepower against both aerial and ground targets while on the move. On the other hand, the Siege Tank's twin 90mm plasma cannons have a slightly weaker firepower with a shorter firing range, but has a much faster firing rate. While the Scorpion Tank can outgun a Siege Tank in tank mode when engaging at long range, the Siege Tank can dish out more damage overtime with its rapid-firing twin cannons.

The Siege Tank is bigger and has a heavier armour compared to the Scorpion Tank. Hence it can take in more punishment compared to its lighter rival. However, Scorpion Tanks are slightly faster and they are deadly ambush units with the ability to travel underground, surface right in front of its target and disable it with EMP claws before tearing it apart. Unless the Siege Tank gets support from detectors or other combat units, it will be completely vulnerable to such kind of ambush attacks.

Scorpion Tank's edges:

Slightly faster

Longer range

Heavier damage per strike

Able to travel underground

EMP claws disable any mechanical units

Siege Tank's edges:

Bigger and heavier armour

Faster rate of fire

Heavier damage overtime

**Conclusion**

Scorpion Tank wins if:

In a hit-and-run attack, in which the Scorpion Tank makes use of its slightly faster speed and longer weapon range to constantly attack the Siege Tank from a distance while on the run. Another way is to conduct a subterranean assault, by burrowing and surfacing right in front of the Siege Tank before disabling it with EMP claws. If the Scorpion Tank uses any forms of guerrilla tactics other than a direct assault, it will have a much higher chance of winning this battle.

Siege Tank wins if:

In a direct frontal assault, in which its heavier armour and heavier damage unleashed overtime will allow it to eventually edge out the lighter Scorpion Tank, which has a lighter armour and a slower firing rate. However, if the Scorpion Tank uses guerrilla tactics like ambush or hit-and-run, or if the Scorpion Tank uses its EMP claws, the chances of victory is pretty slim for the Siege Tank.

* * *

And that's for now. The mercenary Vultures may seemed to have getting themselves pawned badly in this battle though they are considered as 'elite Vultures', don't forget that these Vultures have been outnumbered 6 : 3. Besides, all of the Attack Bikes in this act are of veteran or elite ranks, meaning that their skills in riding are just as superior as the mercenary Vulture riders.

Once again sorry for the late update! I hope that you will enjoy this chapter. Let's see if anyone of you will notice a classic C&C unit quote hidden somewhere in this chapter.

Once again, updates will be around every month or two. So please bear with me.


	23. Act 22: Battle for Bhekar Ro:Space Assau

Happy New Year, everyone! Here's another new chapter. It's a little bit late because I've just returned from an overseas vacation with my family... so here goes...

To MegaAuthor: Yup, Raynor is getting old and that is partly why he had not thought of the possibility that the Nod forces had used exclusively cloaking units to attack his Diamondbacks. Besides, it has been more than 4 centuries since humanity had last witnessed the possibility of a Stealth Tank. That's why a hardened commander like Jim, who also relied heavily on his combat experience other than gut feelings, can be caught completely by surprise.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 22: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: SPACE ASSAULT**

(Nova Squadron flagship _Mjolnir _control bridge... somewhere within the warp space...)

Colonel Akira Yamada, the commander of the Nova Squadron, stares at the scenery of warp space outside the bridge of his flagship, _Mjolnir_. His ship is one of the more than 40 capital ships involved in this joint fleet task force sent to retake Bhekar Ro from the hands of the terrorist organisation known as the Brotherhood of Nod.

Akira lets out a sigh as he tries to focus on the task of preparing the next tactical manoeuvres for the Nova Squadron when they arrived on Bhekar Ro. This operation has been conducted by the joint fleet of Nova Squadron and the Delta Squadron under Colonel Gary Thompson. While the Nova Squadron is the smaller force among the two squadrons, its strength is not to be underestimated; especially when it is the force where the Dominion Ghosts are trained... and the force which has the largest number of attached Ghost agents throughout the entire Dominion Armed Forces. It is this large forces of Ghosts gathered within a single squadron that makes the Nova Squadron as equally feared as the Alpha Squadron, the largest force in the Dominion Armed Forces.

However, while the Nova Squadron itself is widely feared and respected by other squadrons, Akira himself isn't. The middle-aged bespectacled Japanese descendant often receives distrustful glares and scoffs from other fellow Dominion commanders. Many soldiers under his command have also voiced out their distaste when he first took command of the Nova Squadron to replace the missing former Nova Squadron commander, Colonel Jackson Hauler.

There is a good reason why the others do not like the new commander of the Nova Squadron; Colonel Akira Yamada did not start his military career as a Dominion officer. He was actually a former UED commander in the Kronus Wing of the UED Expeditionary Fleet, who had surrendered to the Dominion after the UED Expeditionary Fleet got wiped out by the Zergs since the defeat on Char. Akira should have ended in jail for his war crimes against the Dominion, if not for the fact that Mengsk had noticed a few impressive feats conducted by Akira in his campaign during the UED invasion: Akira was one of the UED commanders who had led the successful invasions against the Dominion Armed Forces in some of the key battles, including the Dylarian Shipyards and Korhal itself. He was also one of the commanders who had participated in the daring operation where the UED attacked Char and enslaved the 2nd Overmind. Mengsk was impressed with Akira's feats, and had decided that the Japanese descendant would be more useful to the Dominion in the frontlines rather than in prison. As Akira himself was also a mild psionic being with a PI reading of 5.5, he was assigned to the Nova Squadron, where he would aid in the training of the Dominion's Ghosts. Eventually, when the commander of Nova Squadron, Colonel Jackson Hauler, had went MIA since the failed Project: Shadowblade, Akira was chosen by Mengsk himself to take the empty seat. This was a surprise as many had thought that it would be the 'ghost general', Leonid Celsus, who should have taken the seat. To Akira, this was a golden opportunity to prove to the Dominion High Command and others that his loyalty now lies in the Dominion, not in the heartless politicians back on Earth who had sent he and his under strength fleet to their suicide expedition into this hostile sector.

"Commander Yamada, we'll be reaching our target destination... ETA in 10 minutes." A female Ghost agent dressed in a white and red Ghost hazard suit reports to the Japanese commander. That Ghost has her face fully covered with a Ghost hazard mask, but her shoulder-length brunette hair has been let loose. She has a C20A canister rifle slung behind her back.

"Understood! Inform all ships to ready their weapons! All pilots to get into their aircrafts! We must expect a heavy resistance once we've reached Bhekar Ro."

Akira looks at the brunette Ghost standing right next to him. Agent Natasha Volstov was assigned as his personal Ghost assistant/bodyguard after he was promoted to a colonel in the Nova Squadron. However, Akira knew that Natasha was assigned by Mengsk to keep a watchful eye on his actions. Even though the emperor of the Dominion believes that he is trustworthy enough to be assigned to command a full Dominion squadron, Mengsk still needs to keep an eye on this former UED commander. This is a standard protocol for the Dominion to ensure that all officers who had defected to the Dominion are truly loyal to the Dominion causes. Any wrong moves, or any signs that he will betray the Dominion, his life will be immediately terminated by the Ghost standing right next to him.

"Commander Yamada, you look disturbed... you are still unhappy that Commander Thompson had insisted that he should take command of the entire operation." The Ghost comments, reading the mind of the Nova Squadron commander.

"You are right, Natasha!" Akira replies, "I think Colonel Thompson has not been taking our new enemies seriously. I hope that this operation would go as smoothly as he claims to be."

A few hours ago, Akira and his small group of subordinates had visited Colonel Gary Thompson, commander of the Delta Squadron, on board of the Delta Squadron's flagship, _Grendel_. There, they had a heated argument with the Delta Squadron personnel during the meeting to discuss on the strategies and tactics to employ when the joint fleet arrived at Bhekar Ro. Gary Thompson is the chief commander in charge of this operation. Despite that both Gary and Akira are of the same rank, Gary and the Delta Squadron were given the leading role because Colonel Thompson, a 'pure Dominion' officer throughout his entire military career, was deemed to be more trustworthy by the High Command.

In Colonel Yamada's opinion, Colonel Thompson is a jerk. That heavily bearded man was too overconfident in his abilities and full of ego. During the meeting, that man had bragged a lot about his previous achievements of quelling some no-name rebel organisations in the Sara System, and had belittled the Omega Squadron as weak. Akira believed that the commander of the Delta Squadron may have issues against defectors too; proven when that man had made a lot of insults against him based on his previous loyalty.

Their views on how to commence this operation are vastly different too. Akira proposed the plan to first deploy Ghosts to scout, infiltrate and sabotage all enemy key installations before making a full sweep with the rest of the task force. After watching and analysing the footages of the Mar Sara Insurrection, sent by the now defunct Omega Squadron before their destruction, Akira believed that it would be too risky to conduct a direct frontal assault against such unorthodox enemy. Instead, he felt that a series of covert operations should be conducted to first understand more about this new enemy, before striking deep into the heart of the enemy's weak spots, confusing and dividing them so that they would become easier targets to be picked off by the main army. On the other hand, Gary wanted to conduct a full frontal assault against the orbital platform on the planet first, construct a staging orbital forward base on the orbital platform, before overwhelming the enemy ground forces with nukes and another full frontal planetfall assault. Unlike Colonel Yamada, Colonel Thompson felt that the Nod forces were actually weak in a direct confrontation, which explained why those new enemies relied heavily on unorthodox tactics such as swarming tactics, hit-and-run and ambush assaults. The commander of the Delta Squadron believed that if they could force this new enemy into a direct confrontation rather than playing into the enemy's favourite field of guerrilla warfare, they could easily have this battle in their bag.

After hours of heated debate, it was finally decided that the joint fleet task force would follow the chief commander's strategy. The joint fleet would first launch a blitzkrieg against the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, which they believed to have been guarded by Nod orbital defences. After taking control of the orbital platform, they would first construct a forward orbital base as a staging area where the joint fleet task force would make their final preparations for the full frontal planetfall assault. Still, the Delta Squadron had agreed that the Nova Squadron would first send in Ghosts to scout, infiltrate and sabotage enemy key installations, before launching the final attack. It had also been agreed that Colonel Yamada would set up an outpost on the orbital platform; which would serve as the storage area for Nuclear Missiles to be launched against the Brotherhood of Nod.

In his honest feeling, Akira does not think that Gary's idea of charging head first into battle is wise against this new kind of enemy. If they are fighting against the Protoss, or a minor Zerg colony, this tactic might work. However, this time they are facing against an unknown Terran faction who may be experts in guerrilla warfare. Based on his own experience, when he had fought against some Kel-Morian rebels during his service in the UED, charging head first into this kind of enemy would often result in falling into a trap. Still, knowing that he is a 'less trustworthy defector' in this task force, Akira knows that there is little thing he can do to convince that egoistical chief commander to change his mind. He can only hope that the Nod forces stationed on Bhekar Ro would not be as numerous as those that had battled in the Mar Sara Insurrection.

"COMMANDER: TASK FORCE REACHING TARGET DESTINATION: BHEKAR RO... ETA: T-MINUS 5 MINUTES!" the ship's adjutant announces.

Akira decides to forget about his issues with the Delta Squadron for the time being; and focuses the ahead task of leading the Nova Squadron in this invasion. His forces are all ready for battle; now the only matter left is to find out how well defended will Bhekar Ro be. That will decide whether Colonel Thompson had made a right choice or not.

* * *

(5 minutes later... High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform...)

The Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform used to be a Dominion orbital defence platform; constructed to defend the Dominion territory of Bhekar Ro against the invasions of other Terran nations, terrorists, pirates, and alien threats. However, when Nod sleeper cells, which had been hiding across the entire planet, struck without warning, the entire Dominion forces stationed on the planet had fallen very quickly within a single day. Even the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform was no exception; unknown to the Dominion defenders stationed on that platform, more than half of their personnel were actually Nod agents, who proceeded to take over and kill all remaining Dominion loyalists in a quick, surprise raid. Now, the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform serves its new master.

The Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform houses a rather massive Nod base, which serves mainly as an orbital defence platform lined with numerous arrays of defence turrets; and as a starport. Besides numerous reserve Nod soldiers and tanks staying on guard inside the base, the platform itself is surrounded by patrols of Basilisk Warships, Salamander missile frigates and squadrons of Venom fighters. There are also several more Basilisk Warships, Medusa Corvettes and even 3 Leviathan-class Carriers docked on the platform.

Suddenly, a massive warp rift appears right in front of the orbital platform. Across the entire base, sirens begin to be sounded. The Nod forces stationed on this platform had been warned earlier by the Commander that there would be a Dominion invasion arriving at any moment; and it seems to be right... now!

From within the massive warp rift, an enormous Dominion fleet had entered into Bhekar Ro High Orbit. This massive fleet is made up of more than 40 Behemoth and Minotaur-class Battlecruisers, about 2 dozen Raven support crafts and hundreds of flights of Viking fighters. From the size of this fleet, it is evident that the Dominion is planning for a full-scale invasion to retake Bhekar Ro.

In the midst of the sirens, the Nod defenders begin to get into their respective fortified positions to defend the platform. Patrols of Basilisks, Salamanders and Venoms begin to head towards the invading Dominion fleet, ready to engage the oppressing ships. Docked Nod ships and aircrafts are quickly scrambled as well. Inside the Nod base, War Factories and Air Towers begin to work overtime to prepare more tanks and aircrafts for the incoming battle, while soldiers are mobilised in the Hand of Nod.

Inside the Nod base, there are several strange looking 3-pronged towers shaped like a chalice. As the Dominion fleet approaches, these Disruption Towers begin to activate. Within a few seconds of their activations, almost the entire Nod base has vanished from plain sight.

* * *

(Inside _Mjolnir_ control bridge...)

"Sir! Multiple targets had vanished from our sight!" a random officer reports to Colonel Yamada.

However, being a mild psionic person himself, Akira is not easily fooled by this trick, "Don't get fooled, officer! The enemy must have been using one of their active cloaking systems! The Ravens would be relaying the coordinates of the targets very soon!"

* * *

(Back outside in Bhekar Ro High Orbit...)

As the 1st vanguard flight of Vikings approach the Nod base, the 1st array of perimeter defences gets triggered. A row of Nod SAM Sites pop out from beneath the ground surface. The SAM Sites swivel their turrets and point towards the approaching Viking flight, before unleashing volleys of surface-to-air missiles. The heat seeking missiles home towards the Vikings, despite the fighters' attempts to roll out of the missiles' trajectory, slamming themselves onto the Vikings and ripping the Terran fighter/walker hybrids into pieces.

The first shot has been fired... and the Battle of Bhekar Ro has officially begun.

Realising the dangers posed by the SAM Sites, the Vikings from the Nova Squadron begin to make a temporary retreat back to the main fleet to get out of the SAM Sites' range. However, the Delta Squadron Vikings have been ordered by their commander to charge straight towards the platform. They have been told to make use of their numerical advantage by landing right onto the orbital platform en masse and quickly overwhelm the enemy positions before they can retaliate. As a result of such reckless charge, another several more Delta Squadron Vikings get blasted into scraps by the SAMs. Still, an even larger number of the Vikings manage to get close enough and touch down onto the platform.

However, once these Vikings had landed and transformed into their assault modes, they instantly trigger a 2nd array of defence turrets: Viper Laser Cannons and Flame Columns. The barrage of laser shots and flames quickly knock out majority of the landing Vikings, which their gatling guns are not effective against those heavily armoured Nod defence turrets. Worse still, deployed Chameleon Artilleries begin to bombard the Viking assault walkers with their 180mm plasma shock cannon from a far distance, reducing even more Vikings into scrap metal. The 1st wave of Delta Squadron Viking assault has failed.

Although the 1st wave has failed miserably in taking out any Nod defenders, the Vikings had managed to draw away most of the anti-air fire to allow the Battlecruisers to get within striking range. ATS laser batteries fire barrages of laser shots onto the pop-out SAM Sites and other turrets, reducing the turrets into smouldering piles. Some SAM Sites retaliate against the Battlecruiser assaults, but the SAMs are not strong enough to significant damage to the massive capital ships. Within a few seconds, the perimeter defence turrets are all down.

Shortly after the platform's perimeter defence turrets have been taken out the patrolling Basilisks, Salamanders and Venoms have reached within striking distance against the Dominion fleet. Like a swarm of angry bees, the Venoms swoop in and start raining barrages of rocket fire against the Dominion ships. Salamanders unleash barrages of Darter cluster missiles, while the Basilisks fire their Spectrum laser. Some of the Basilisks also activate their stasis field generator and have successfully trap several Dominion ships into stasis mode.

In response against the counterattack by Nod ships and fighters, the Dominion ships begin to act too. ATA laser batteries from all Battlecruisers rain laser barrage upon the Nod ships and Venoms. Some of the Raven Flight deploy Point Defence Drone to intercept rocket projectiles fired from the Salamanders and Venoms, preventing them from striking their targets. Other Ravens fire Seeker missiles right into the midst of Venom swarm, destroying large bulks of the small, fragile Nod fighters. Half of the Vikings break off from their flight formations to engage the Venoms in a space dogfight, while others fly in to hammer the Nod ships with barrages of Lanzer torpedoes.

The engagement is chaotic, with multiple ships and fighters on both sides getting destroyed in deep space. Spectrum lasers ripping Battlecruiser bows apart; laser battery barrages pulverise Basilisks into unrecognisable scraps; formations of Vikings decimated by Darter cluster missiles; Ravens and Battlecruisers locked into stasis, rendering them useless for the time being; Venoms picking off lone Ravens one by one; Seeker missiles blasting Venoms into pieces of scrap metal...

Eventually, the Dominion fleet prevails. The presence of several Point Defence Drones in the battle is the critical key in determining the victors in this battle. Despite the efforts of Nod ships in trying to counter those drones with near endless volleys of rockets and missiles, the Point Laser Defence Drones disable majority of those projectiles, rendering the Nod barrages less effective. Added with the factor that the Dominion fleet is the side that has the numerical advantage in here, the Nod fleet does not stand a chance. Still, they do take about 10% of the enemy fleet along with them before going down.

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolnir_ control bridge...)

After the witnessing _Mjolnir _destroying the last Nod capital ship with its ATA laser batteries, Colonel Akira Yamada turns his attention back towards the orbital platform. With the enemy patrols eliminated, Akira knows that the enemy would be scrambling all their remaining docked ships and other forms of aircrafts available in the enemy base. He has already noticed a few of those docked ships beginning to move out and start heading towards the fleet. However, Akira's real concern is not about the enemy reinforcements coming from the base or from the surface... he is concerned about the enemy calling for help from outside of this planet.

'We must shut down the enemy's ability to call in reinforcements from outside of this system! From this current progress of the operation, this battle would take a much longer time than we have anticipated. If the Brotherhood of Nod sends in another fleet in the midst of our operation, the outcome will become too unpredictable. We cannot allow this to happen!'

"Adjutant; can you locate any kinds of communication array on this orbital platform; one that can allow interplanetary transmission?" Akira asks.

Several seconds later, the robotic adjutant replies the colonel's query,

"AFFIRMATIVE! THERE IS A COMMUNICATION ARRAY LOCATED RIGHT NEXT TO THE SHIP DOCKING AREA. DESTRUCTION OF THE ARRAY WOULD DISABLE THE ENEMY'S ABIILITY TO SEND TRANSMISSIONS IN OR OUT OF THIS PLANET..."

After hearing analysis results from the ship's adjutant, Akira starts to make some mental calculations, 'Hmm... right now the position of the Nova Squadron fleet is a just a few distance away from the array. We can quickly move in and destroy the array in just a few minutes time... but we'll have to get past the enemy docked ships first. Still... it is better to act now before all those docked ships have been scrambled!'

With his decision made, Akira gives his orders, "Adjutant; inform all units in our squadron to head towards that communication array! All units are to target the enemy docked ships before they get activated; especially the enemy support corvettes as those ships have missiles that can power down our ships! Adjutant, direct power towards the _Mjolnir's _Yamato Cannon and standby for fire once we get into range!"

"AFFIRMATIVE..."

Akira steels his gaze towards the orbital platform, specifically at a large man-made structure which houses 2 large satellite dishes. That is the communication array that the adjutant has marked and that is currently his primary target. Akira plans to destroy that array quickly with a Yamato Cannon, and hopes that no Nod corvettes will interrupt his offensive. One of the many things he has learnt from reading reports of the Mar Sara Insurrection was that those Nod support corvettes had the ability to launch EMP missiles to fully disable ships and shut down their power. If _Mjolnir _gets hit by any one of those EMP missiles, then he would need to think of another solution in taking out that communication array.

* * *

(Back outside _Mjolnir_...)

The battle rages on as the Nova Squadron fleet charges towards the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform Communication Array. Numerous Battlecruisers surround and escort the flagship, the Behemoth-class Battlecruiser _Mjolnir_, which is currently charging up its power for a Yamato Cannon strike.

While the flagship is making its preparation, the other Battlecruisers are raining laser barrages against the docked Medusas; destroying them before they can pose a significant threat. They have been ordered by their commander to target these seemingly weak support vessels because these vessels have been known to have the ability to disable ships; something that can stop the _Mjolnir _from unleashing its most potent weapon. While most Medusas end up destroyed before they can be scrambled, a few of them gets activated and thrown into combat. However, these ships do not last long in the battle as since they have been activated on a short notice, none of them have enough stored energy to launch any EMP missiles or fire a Flux cannon against the opposing fleet. The only task these Medusas manage to perform is to activate their Matrix Solidifier functions to conduct emergency repairs on the other docked ships as they get ready for battle. Within minutes, the Medusas no longer pose a serious threat to the _Mjolnir_.

While the Battlecruisers make short work on the Medusas, the escorting Vikings rain Lanzer torpedoes against the docked Salamanders, Basilisks and the Leviathans. Like the Medusas, the inactive Salamanders stand no chance against the barrage of torpedoes that tear the hull of the smaller Nod ships apart. Several of the Basilisks also suffer the same fate. A few of the Basilisks and Salamanders manage to get out of the docks in time and retaliate, taking out a few Vikings in their wake. Unfortunately, they too are quickly eradicated by the remaining Vikings and Battlecruisers.

As the docks lay in ruins, the last remaining defenders of the communication array lie in the hands of the 3 Leviathans and several defence turrets. As the Leviathans themselves begin to come under attack, they immediately scramble all their Sortie Drones in time. Like a swarm of angry hornets eager to defend their hives, the Sortie Drones fiercely attack the offending Vikings with their laser cannons, shredding a few of them into pieces. One pack of Sortie Drones target one of the many battle-damaged Battlecruisers, and successfully cause enough damage to split the entire ship into 2 burning fragments.

The Battlecruisers immediately recognise the Leviathans as significant threats. From their observations on those 3 Nod capital ships, they quickly deduce that the Nod Leviathans perform a role similar to those of Protoss Carriers; which means that those ships are primary targets that need to be eliminated immediately. With that in mind, the Battlecruisers begin to unleash their most powerful weapon: the Yamato Cannon!

Ignoring the harassments by the Sortie Drones, the Battlecruisers begin to charge up their Behemoth reactors. The bows of these Dominion capital ships begin to split open, revealing a glowing orb of plasma energy concentrated in the barrel of the main bow gun. In seconds, after a series of loud humming, the formation of Battlecruisers lets loose of their devastating Yamato Cannons. The Yamato Cannons race towards their targets, with several slamming themselves right onto the hulls of the Leviathans. The devastating energy weapons immediately decimate the Leviathans, tearing the once mighty Nod ships apart, reducing them into burning wreckages. With the loss of their controllers, the Sortie Drones immediately self-destruct; no longer posing a threat to the Nova Squadron fleet. The other Yamato Cannons connect to the defence turrets surrounding the communication array, laying waste to the Nod defence structures.

With nothing standing in its way, _Mjolnir _begins to channel its power from its Behemoth reactor and towards its main bow gun. The hammer-shaped bow splits open, revealing its main cannon, which is now glowing with concentrated plasma energy. The Nova Squadron flagship takes aim at the communication array, before firing its main weapon. The energy projectile speeds towards the critical structure, combusting and creating a huge explosion upon impact. Within seconds, the communication array has been destroyed.

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

"Adjutant; status of the primary target?" Akira asks.

"ANALYSING PRIMARY TARGET STATUS: TARGET DESTROYED... PRIMARY OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED!" the adjutant announces the destruction of the communication array.

Despite their success, no one inside the control bridge has started cheering yet. This is because all of them know that this battle has yet to be finished. With the destruction of the communication array on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, they have only managed to cut the enemy's ability to communicate with others outside this planet. Now, they have the difficult task in subjugating the stubborn defences mounted by the entrapped Nod forces. From what the commander of the Nova Squadron has learnt from his prior combat experience, nothing is predictable about a large group of enemy armed forces that is backed into a corner; either they will surrender, or they will fight till the very end and use any means necessary to cause casualties of an unimaginable scale.

Akira hopes that their trapped enemy would choose the former measure, although he has this feeling that they will not. Letting out a sigh of stress release, Akira hopes that Colonel Gary Thompson and his Delta Squadron can overwhelm the remaining Nod defenders as quickly as they claim; before the Nod defenders can cause too much casualties. They cannot afford to drag this space battle for too long, since they still have a planet-scale ground battle to fight.

* * *

(Inside _Grendel _control bridge...)

In the control bridge of the Delta Squadron flagship _Grendel_, Colonel Gary Thompson has just learnt that Colonel Akira Yamada and the Nova Squadron have just cut off the enemy communication from the outside world by destroying the orbital platform's communication array.

"Hmm... not bad for a defector..." Gary remarks, although the truth is that he is quite impressed with the Nova Squadron of thinking ahead to cut off the enemy's ability to communicate with the outside world; he is just too proud to acknowledge his comrade's quick thinking.

'Well, this means I have to put this attack into overdrive... I hate to let that guy take all the glory for himself!'

Not wanting to lose out to the Nova Squadron, Gary begins to bark out orders to his units to put in more efforts in taking down the rest of the Nod forces on the orbital platform. The commander of the Delta Squadron is not planning to lose this competition of who will earn the glory of defeating the Brotherhood of Nod.

Just then, Gary realises that his fleet has cleared a part of the orbital platform from Nod presence. Scans from Ravens have confirmed that there are no more hidden Nod units sneaking in that cleared area. It looks like it is the time for the larger Delta Squadron to shine...

"Adjutant; order all Medivacs to move out and deploy the ground units onto the platform... NOW!"

"AFFIRMATIVE..."

* * *

(Sector 11 of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform...)

All forms of Nod defences on Sector 11, one of the corners of the platform, have been completely annihilated by the Delta Squadron fleet. With the sector cleared of enemy presence, Vikings and G-226 Medivac Dropships begin to approach the cleared area. Ravens and Battlecruisers stay alert above the cleared area, on the lookout for any enemy approach.

Under the cover of the Ravens and Battlecruisers, the Vikings and Medivacs make their landings onto the platform. The Vikings undergo conformational transformation from fighter mode to assault mode, turning from space fighters to gatling cannon-armed assault walkers. The Medivacs eject their passengers out from the cargo hatch, dropping Marines, Marauders, Reapers, SCVs, Hellions and Crucio Siege Tanks. A Command Centre also touches down at the area, establishing itself into a forward base. With the forward base established, the SCVs begin work on setting up other military structures around the area. As the forward base is set up, the other Delta Squadron units begin to set up defensive perimeter around the forward base. While all of these events are taking place, more and more ground units are making their landings onto the newly established Delta Squadron forward base.

As the Delta Squadron makes its landing onto the orbital platform itself on Sector 11, the Nod defending units start to head towards the captured area in an effort to try to retake the area back to their control. However, without the support of aerial units, which have been almost totally annihilated, these ground units do not last long under the relentless bombardment by Battlecruisers. Wreckages of Raiders, Attack Bikes, Reckoners, Scorpion Tanks and Flame Tanks litter across the platform; while mangled corpses of fallen Nod infantries and cyborgs lay strewn across the battlefield. Some Stealth Tanks and Chameleon Artilleries try to sneak in and deal heavy punishments onto the Dominion invaders, but the advanced sensors of Ravens quickly spot out the hidden threats, allowing the Crucio Siege Tanks to blast them from afar with 180mm plasma shock cannon. Many of these advanced yet fragile vehicles fail to fire their first shot before getting blown to bits.

After about a quarter of an hour, the forward base has been established and its defences set up. With the completion of the forward base, the Delta Squadron land units begin their march towards the Nod base on the orbital platform.

The first wave of Delta Squadron units consist of a scouting pack of Hellions. The Hellions speed through across the platform, heading directly towards the direction of the Nod base. As the Hellions close in to the Nod base, however, they quickly encounter an opposing squad of Nod Raiders and Attack Bikes. The 2 squads of vehicles immediately exchange fire as they zoom past each other, resulting a few vehicles from both sides to end up as burning wreckages. While the Hellions decide to resume their charge towards the Nod base, the Raiders and Attack Bikes decide to give chase to their Dominion enemies; hence they all immediately turn back and pursue the Hellions on their tail. The Hellions, under the order by their commander to scout out the path ahead and towards the enemy base, have chosen to not to turn back to engage their pursuers on their tail. This would turn out to be a huge mistake...

With their advantages in speed and longer weapon range, the pursuing Raiders and Attack Bikes quickly catch up with their targets... and fire! Gauss machine gun spikes and Tiberium-core rockets rain upon the fleeing Hellions, creating a series of fiery explosions as the Hellions fall victim to the assault on their tail. The few surviving Hellions have finally realised their mistakes of allowing the enemy light vehicles to pursue their tails, which they thought that they could simply outrun the Nod vehicles and resume their objective. Sadly, they have realised it too late, when they themselves also fall prey to the enemy's assaults before they can turn back and retaliate. With the Hellions taken care of, the Raiders and Attack Bikes head towards to intercept the next wave of Dominion invaders.

The next wave of Delta Squadron units consist of an infantry line of Marines and Marauders, with several Medivac Dropships tailing behind the infantry cluster. With the Dominion MMM formation sighted, the Raiders immediately fire their 25mm gauss machine gun towards the Marines, while the Attack Bikes rain their rockets upon the Marauders. Despite wearing their heavy CMC power suits and riot shields, a number of Marines and Marauders fall prey to the combined assault. Fortunately for the Dominion infantries, their casualties are prevented from getting any higher as the tailing Medivacs fire healing beams onto the wounded infantries.

With their wounds taken care of by tailing Medivacs, the Marines and Marauders retaliate against the Raiders and Attack Bikes with a vengeance; activating their stim packs and fire their weapons against the Nod vehicles with unmatched ferocity. The lightly armoured Raiders and Attack Bikes do not stand a chance, ending up as broken pieces of metal, parts and tyres before they can even escape.

The MMM formation resumes its march, about halfway reaching the Nod base when they get intercepted by the next wave of Nod units. This wave of Nod units consists of a large mob of Nod combat infantries: Devouts and Nod Marines. Immediately after the encounter, the infantries on both sides quickly exchange fire. On an open orbital platform without much cover, infantries on both sides simply charge and shoot at each other at the same time, bringing casualties on both sides. Although the Nod infantries have the numerical advantage, ultimately it is the Dominion side, which has the heavy fire support by Marauders and first aid support by Medivacs, that eventually prevail in the gunfight.

However, shortly after the last Devout has been shot in the head by a C-14 Impaler spike, the Dominion infantry cluster quickly encounter the next wave of Nod interceptors. This time, the MMM formation encounters a formation of Enlightened and Spider cyborgs, with Saboteurs tailing behind. Upon another encounter against another wave of Nod infantries, the Marines and Marauders attempt another rush with their guns blazing, hoping to wipe out the opposing infantries like what they have done to the previous enemy infantry cluster. However, these Marines and Marauders are not aware that those enemy infantries are not just any ordinary infantries, but are cyborgs; tougher and more efficient man-shaped killing machines that behave more like walking tanks rather than lightly armoured soldiers.

The Marines and Marauders fire off their C-14 Implaler gausse rifles and Quad K12 Punisher grenade launchers respectively, but are quickly answered with a fierce retaliation of 70mm Centurion cannon and MOLDS laser barrage. Despite with the first aid support by Medivacs, more Marines and Marauders are falling from the barrage of cannons and lasers than the Nod cyborgs. The Marines and Marauders have fired every shots, but it appears as if all those shots do nothing other than scraping the armour of the cyborgs. In reality, the Saboteurs tailing behind the cyborg cluster are just doing the same thing as what the Medivacs are doing; healing their allies. In this way, both sides benefit from first aid support; hence the outcome of the battle is determined purely by the quantity and quality of both sides.

Although the Dominion infantries have the slight initial edge in numbers, they are horribly outclassed in terms of firepower, armour and performance. Not only do the cyborgs are much tougher and harder to kill, their near-perfect accuracies mean almost all of their shots hit home despite finding themselves in the middle of a chaotic gunfight. On the other hand, although the Marines and Marauders have auto-targeting systems installed in their weapons and power suits, they find themselves difficult to aim at their opponents properly when there are cannon shells and lasers shots flying all over the place. Besides, each of the different cyborgs are attacking specific targets as if they have been assigned to do so in the first place; the Enlightened are targeting the slower, bulkier Marauders with their armour-piercing 70mm Centurion cannons, while the Spiders fire their MOLDS which disperse in the midst of the Marine formations. As a result, Marauders are collapsing with cannon-sized holes in their armour, while Marines are cut down by web of laser fire en masse.

As more Marines and Marauders are falling from the cyborg assaults, the remaining Dominion infantries activate their stim pack again, hoping their stimulated aggressions will even out the odds. However, the cyborgs quickly detect the sudden spike in the enemy infantries' aggression... and quickly come up with a counter manoeuvre. In a perfect synchronisation, the Enlightened quickly move in front and deploy their energy shields, effectively blocking off all incoming shots. At the same time, the Spiders fire their Spinneret Synthetic Web sprayer, entrapping all the Marines and Marauders in the super sticky web. Despite having an equivalent of an extreme adrenaline rush due to the effects of the Stim packs, the webbed Marines and Marauders find themselves completely immobilised by the Synthetic Web. Rendered immobile and helpless, the battle turns from an intense gunfight to a one-sided killing field; with the charred bodies of Marines and bloodied Marauder remains littered across the field.

Realising that the infantries are in trouble, the Medivacs try to swoop and pick up the last remaining Marines and Marauders away from the battle. However, they are quickly gotten under fire by the Spiders, which are shooting at the airborne transports with their Mini-Obelisk of Darkness mounted on their backs. The concentrated beams of laser strike onto the Medivacs with pin-point accuracy and precision, bringing a few of them crashing down onto the platform.

Unable to withstand the anti-air assaults by the Spider cyborgs, the remaining Medivacs try to pick up as many infantries as they can and quickly fly back towards the direction of the Delta Squadron forward base. However, before they can successfully retreat to a safe distance, they are ambushed during their flight when several Reckoners surface right under them. Inside these Reckoners are a mixture of infantry kinds, ranging from Devouts, Marines, Enlightened, Spiders, and even Black Hands. The combined anit-air firepower of the fortified infantries inside the Reckoners make short work out of the Medivacs, causing none of them to be able to make it back to base.

Shortly after getting rid of the Medivacs, the Reckoners immediately deploy their reinforcement plates, making themselves into heavily fortified bunkers in the anticipation of the next enemy wave. They are then met up with the Enlightened, Spider and Saboteur team. Soon enough, the next wave of Dominion invaders start to show up in the form of Marines, Marauders and Vikings. However, this time the Delta Squadron units are not alone; just a short distance behind the Marines, Marauders and Vikings, are a column of Crucio Siege Tanks escorted by more Marines and Marauders. Above them are several Ravens, ready to scout out any hidden enemies. The front line of Marines, Marauders and Vikings clash with the fortified Nod infantries inside the Reckoners as both sides exchange gunfire. However, at the same time, the Siege Tanks have deployed themselves into siege mode behind the first line... and begin to rain a destructive hail of plasma shock cannon blasts. The resulting barrage immediately devastate the Reckoners; even the additional reinforcement plates deployed by the Reckoners are unable to hold up for long. Saboteurs try to repair the Reckoners to make them last longer in the battle, but they too fall victim to the barrage of the Siege Tanks. As the Reckoners are getting destroyed one by one, the fortified infantries have been forced out into the open and get themselves exposed by gunfire from forward Marines, Marauders and Vikings. While the Nod Marines, Devouts and Spiders are quick to fall under such intense fire, the Enlightened and Black Hands are more resilient with their heavier armour. These heavy Nod infantries even fight back with maximum efficiency; with the Enlightened making accurate kill shots at Marauders and Vikings, while setting up energy shields to shield off the damage; the Black Hands scorch down the rows of Marines with their Purifier flamethrowers and Holy Water grenade combination with efficiency that will easily make Firebats to pale in comparison. The result is that a significant number of Marines, Marauders and Vikings have been destroyed by the Nod heavy infantries. Still, with the combined might of the Dominion troops, especially from the Siege Tanks, the Enlightened and the Black Hands have quickly perished under the relentless hail of fire from the Dominion units.

With the threat of Nod infantries neutralised, the Delta Squadron units resume their march towards the enemy base. They are now closing in towards the Nod base; so close that many of the units in the front have begun to make a glimpse out of the strange looking Nod structures from a distance. Strangely enough, the Nod base appears to be barren in the middle with only several strange looking 3-pronged chalice-shaped towers scattered around. The only forms of structures that can be seen are those that are constructed at the margins of the base. Along those margins, there are dozens of Nod infantries and vehicles sighted; all appear to be ready to defend their base to the very end.

Suddenly, the Delta Squadron units come under heavy fire, when a sudden artillery barrage rains upon the front line of Marines, Marauders and Vikings. The barrage easily wipe out a large bulk of the Dominion infantries and Viking walkers, leaving body parts and wreckages in its wake. The surviving Dominion frontline units are soon greeted by another sudden barrage of rockets, which also appear to fly out of nowhere. The sudden barrage of rocket finishes off the remaining front line Marines, Marauders and Vikings.

Surprised by the sudden onslaught, the Dominion units at the rear halt their movements. However, they quickly understand what is going on when the Ravens transmit images picked up by their advanced sensors; which reveal cloaked Nod Stealth Tanks and Chameleon Artilleries.

With the Ravens revealing the true location of the enemy cloaked units, the Siege Tanks deploy themselves back into siege mode again and fire their own 180mm plasma shock cannons back towards the rows of Chameleon. The Stealth Tanks are met with a fierce counterassault by stimmed Marines and Marauders escorting the Siege Tanks. A few Ravens also assemble and drop Auto-Turrets right next to the revealed Stealth Tanks and Chameleons. Without the protection of stealth, the lightly armoured Stealth Tanks and Chameleons stand little chance against the heavy combined assault of the Delta Squadron. Many of them are instantly smashed into burning wreckages before they can reload their weapons and retaliate.

Knowing that their stealth ability has been neutralised, the surviving Stealth Tanks turn their attentions to the Ravens. Mantis multi-rocket systems launch dozens of Tiberium-core rockets towards the Dominion support craft, threatening to remove their existence. The Ravens respond to the rocket barrage by assembling and setting up Point Defence Drones, which immediately zap the incoming rockets with point defence laser. As a result, most of the Ravens manage to get away from the rocket barrage unscathed, with only one Raven that has been lost to the barrage which should have decimated the entire flight. Within less than a minute, the rest of the Stealth Tanks and Chameleons have been wiped out by the Siege Tanks' artillery barrage.

After the Stealth Tanks and Chameleons have been dealt with, the Siege Tanks are about to convert back into their tank modes, when they have been warned of an incoming approach of subterranean units by the Ravens. Taking heed of the warning, the Siege Tanks stay put and remain in their siege mode, raining shells upon the surface above the subterranean units, forcing them to surface prematurely. The subterranean units reveal themselves to be Recknoners and Scorpion Tanks, which quickly start to attack the Ravens as soon as they surface, seemingly knowing that it is the Ravens that are responsible for detecting them and revealing their hidden locations to the enemy forces. These Nod subterranean units immediately unleash all forms of anti-air weapons, which mainly consist of anti-air laser shot by Scorpion Tanks and Spider cyborgs, as well as gauss weaponry fire by Nod Marines and Devouts. Unlike rocket projectiles, these anti-air weaponries cannot be intercepted easily by point defence laser. As a result, several more Ravens have been brought crashing down onto the platform in flames, before the rest of the Ravens escape by assembling and deploying Auto-Turrets to distract the Nod subterranean units while the Ravens make their retreat. As the Nod subterranean units get distracted by the Auto-Turrets, the Siege Tanks proceed to bombard them from afar, leaving even more Scorpion Tanks and Reckoners as burning wreckages. Knowing that they are in a disadvantage, the Scorpion Tanks and Reckoners make their retreat back to base through underground. With the subterranean threats dealt with, the Siege Tanks return back to tank mode and resume their journey towards the Nod base with their escorts.

When the perimeter of the Nod base is in sight, the Siege Tanks deploy into siege mode again... and fire... laying waste of the perimeter defence turrets. However, they are soon greeted by another barrage coming from another side. A scanner sweep conducted by an Orbital Command Centre has confirmed deployed Nod Chameleon Artilleries to be the ones that are blasting back at the Siege Tanks. With the number of enemy artilleries outnumbering their own, the escorts of Marines, Marauders and Ravens decide to take action and try to charge in right into the base... only to be greeted by a flurry of pop-out defences and Nod units that have yet to be taken out by the initial Siege Tank barrage. Outnumbered, the Marines and Marauders are instantly wiped out by the Nod defenders; while the Ravens fall victim to a heavy rocket barrage launched by Attack Bikes, SAM Sites and Stealth Tanks when they run out of energy in their Corvid reactors to assemble adequate Auto-Turrets, Point Defence Drones or Seeker missiles.

With the escorts taken out, the Siege Tanks are more vulnerable to the Nod counterattacks. Fortunately for them, they are quickly reinforced by the next incoming wave of Delta Squadron units. With the next wave of Dominion escorts pressuring the Nod defenders, the Siege Tanks resume their siege barrage. However, despite the continuous poundings by plasma shock cannons, which has destroyed a vast majority of Nod defenders and base defences, the number of Nod defenders do not seem to drop at all. In fact, they seem to always turn up out of nowhere, materialising right into the Nod base perimeter to replace those Nod units that have fallen. The base defences also keep popping out of nowhere, in which less than a minute after a Nod defence structure gets flattened, another one will pop-out from the ground deploy itself to replace the flattened structure. Still, the Dominion side is also constantly reinforced by the large number of waves of the massive Delta Squadron, allowing the siege of the Nod base on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform to keep resuming without allowing the Nod defenders to have a breather.

The siege would go on for the next hour... with both sides locked into a chaotic battle for the control of the orbital platform...

* * *

(Inside _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

"Sir; we have completed the construction of our forward base!" a Nova Squadron officer reports to Colonel Akira Yamada.

After taking out the communication array to cut the Nod forces on the orbital platform from the outside world and destroying all docked Nod ships and aircrafts, the Nova Squadron has established a forward base of their own on the destroyed dock section of the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. Although the base is smaller than the one built by the Delta Squadron, it does not matter to the Japanese commander. The Nova Squadron is a small force made up of fewer number of soldiers, but of higher quality and has been trained in the arts of covert operations rather than a large-scale frontal assault. Besides, the main role of the Nova Squadron base in this overall operation is to provide a Nuke production and storage area for the upcoming planetfall assault against the Nod forces on the Bhekar Ro surface. Hence there is no need for a large base to be constructed for the Nova Squadron.

"Commander; the Delta Squadron has been launching assaults against the Nod base at the central of the platform... but they have yet to breach the enemy defences. Should we send in reinforcements to assist them?" another officer asks Akira.

"Hmm... before we send in reinforcements, I think we should analyse the enemy base and determine why Colonel Thompson is still unable to take down the enemy forces." The commander of the Nova Squadron replies.

Akira and his small group of officers look up to the battlefield minimap, which shows the entire layout of the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, including the Nod base. As Akira analyses the layout of the Nod base, he cannot help but feel something weird about its layout.

'That's strange... why did the enemy build their major structures close to the perimeter of the base... while leaving the centre empty but scattered with those strange towers... wouldn't it be wiser to construct their major structures in the centre where it would be more difficult for their enemies to gain access with? Also, the base doesn't appear to have that many structure that can support this large number of Nod units; there must be more of them... but where?'

As Akira and his officers are still puzzling about the enemy base's layout, the adjutant announces something about its analysis on the Nod's base,

"COMMANDER... I HAVE DETECTED UNIQUE ENERGY SIGNATURES ORIGINATING FROM THE NOD TOWERS SCATTERED ACROSS THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE NOD BASE ON THE BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM. THE ENERGY SIGNATURES EMITTED BY THE NOD TOWERS ARE SUSPECTED TO SHARE THE SAME PROPERTIES AS THE CLOAKING FIELD UTILISED BY SOME PROTOSS WARSHIPS..."

"Adjutant; are you saying that those towers are emitting energy fields similar to those cloaking fields utilised by Protoss Arbiters?" Akira asks.

"AFFIRMATIVE!"

"I see... adjutant; conduct a few scanner sweeps across the enemy base's core region around those towers!"

"SCANNER SWEEP IN PROGRESS... STANDBY... SCAN RESULTS INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF MULTIPLE NOD STRUCTURES AND UNITS HIDDEN AMONG THE CLOAKING FIELDS..."

'I knew it!' Akira feels as he gets the confirmation from the adjutant that the Nod base is actually much bigger than it looks. That is why it is able to support so many units despite its appearance as a not a very large base of operations. With that in mind, Akira knows what has to be done; those towers have to be destroyed in order to allow the Delta Squadron to know that there are more Nod structures to be destroyed in order to fully eradicate Nod presence on this orbital platform.

"Adjutant; transmit this discovery to Colonel Gary Thompson of Delta Squadron on _Grendel_. I hope that the colonel will know what to do after he is fully aware of what he is dealing with."

As the ship's onboard adjutant begins to transmit scanner sweep imaging results to the Delta Squadron, the commander of the Nova Squadron is approached by his Ghost bodyguard, Natasha,

"Sir; I have been picking up a lot of suspicious thoughts coming from many of the enemy soldiers when we bust into their docks. For some reasons, these enemies seem to be welcoming our presence on this orbital platform. They know they are losing and they will die, yet they want us to come here! It smells like a trap to me..."

"Hmm... if that is so, maybe you're right, Natasha! I also have been having this strange feeling as if we are walking right into a trap. Although the enemy is resisting fiercely, everything appears to have been going on smoothly... too smoothly." Akira remarks. After reading battle reports and watching battle footages of the Mar Sara Insurrection, Akira believes that the Brotherhood of Nod is somehow holding back in their defence against their invasion. The Nod troops in this battle does not appear to be as coordinated as the ones witnessed in Mar Sara. Perhaps there is a different, less competent Nod commander taking care of this planet's defence... or is it?

"Regardless, I'll inform the adjutant to scan the entire orbital platform for any booby traps after this battle is over. Right now, we'll focus the task of bringing this Nod base down. We'll send in an armoured squadron of Siege Tanks with Raven, Viking and infantry escorts to flank the Nod base from another side. Together with the Delta Squadron, we'll make a 2-pronged assault against the enemy base and hopefully it will divide and spread the enemy's defences further apart." The Japanese commander remarks as he plans out his next assault.

* * *

(Back inside _Grendel _control bridge...)

"So that's why there are so many enemies coming out from that tiny base... can't imagine that the defector can be so useful in times like this..." Colonel Gary Thompson remarks as he reads the scanner sweep imaging report on the Nod base layout transmitted from the Nova Squadron. Although the commander of Delta Squadron did consider the possibility that the enemy has hidden some parts of the base, he had dismissed the idea that a Terran faction other than the Dominion could cloak parts of their own base and units in a massive cloaking field like the Protoss could. After studying the scanner sweep image, however, he realises that he has to reconsider his thinking and start to treat his enemies more seriously.

'Now the forward base on the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform is almost complete, with its defences all set and prepared for any possible ambush attacks... I think it is time to let the Battlecruisers to finish off that Nod base before I end up losing too much troops to take it down.'

With that in mind, Gary gives the order to all Delta Squadron Battlecruisers to join in the assault against the Nod base. He deploys the Battlecruisers to attack the base from a direction different from his ground troops, so that alongside with the Nova Squadron, he will make a 3-pronged assault against the Nod defenders. Hopefully, this kind of assault would further split the Nod defence positions further apart and make them easier to destroy.

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform Defence Base... Main Base Entrance...)

A pair of Nod infantries are defending the main entrance of the base with their lives. The Reckoner which they have garrisoned in has just been destroyed by a Siege Tank barrage, forcing them to the open. The other companions that have been defending the main base entrance alongside with them are all dead, and most of the defence turrets have been destroyed; so that leaves these pair of infantries the sole defenders of this entrance before fresh units arrive or new defence turrets can be constructed to replace the lost ones.

The pair of infantries resemble the standard Devout infantries, with only one notable difference; instead of wrist mounted chain guns on both arms, these infantries have their arms cybernetically replaced with Dragon rocket launchers. These are Ascended, cybernetically enhanced soldiers armed with dual Dragon rocket launchers for anti-armour and anti-air operations. While the Devouts are more suited for taking out lighter threats, Ascended are preferred choice of counter against armoured and aerial threats.

The 2 Ascended fire their dual Dragon rocket launchers against a Viking in assault mode, shutting down the walker for good as the rockets slam into the cockpit of the walker and explode. However, as the Ascended are focused on the task of taking out a few more Vikings, a small group of Marines seize their chance to close in and shoot at the pair with their C-14 Impaler gausse rifles. One of the Ascended collapse to the ground; killed by a spike right into his head. Another gets his body shredded by Gatling cannon fire from a Viking.

With the guarding Ascended dealt with, the Delta Squadron Marines and Vikings attempt to storm into the Nod base though the main entrance. However, they are quickly intercepted when a new pair of Viper Laser Cannons suddenly pop-out from beneath the ground and begin zapping the Dominion units with their laser cannons, shredding the Dominion infantries and walkers in seconds. However, the Viper Laser Cannons do not last long either, when plasma shells fired afar from Siege Tanks blast the Nod turrets into oblivion.

With the turrets out of the way, the next wave of Marines, Marauders, Hellions and Vikings rush into the Nod base. However, they are quickly intercepted by the next available wave of Nod defenders. Once again, both parties are locked into a fierce combat...

It is a stalemate... until...

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Rho Orbital Platform Defence Base... Rear Entrance 3...)

A series of explosions rattles upon the 3rd rear entrance of the Nod base on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. From a distance away, a row of Crucio Siege Tanks deployed in siege mode, protected by dozens of Marines and Marauders and several Ravens, are firing their 180mm plasma shock cannons at the Nod base entrance. All of them bear the insignia of the Nova Squadron, signifying their assignment to Colonel Akira Yamada's army.

While the Nova Squadron Siege Tanks are raining suppressive artillery barrage against the rear Nod base entrance, Nova Squadron units begin to storm into the rear of the Nod base.

The first group of units to rush into the Nod base is made up of a sizeable number of Marines and Marauders led by a small squad of Ghosts. While the Marines and Marauders are shooting at the Nod defenders, the Ghosts spearhead the attack, sniping heavily armoured Nod cyborgs in their heads with their C-10 canister rifles, shutting down the dangerous heavy infantries in an instant. These Ghosts also use their E-11 lockdown device to temporarily shut down Nod vehicles and structures, rendering them useless and easy targets for the Marauders to demolish. EMP rounds are shot at the Enlightened to shut their EMP cannons and energy shields down, making them more vulnerable to counterattacks. Even the mighty Black Hands are nothing more than victims to the Ghosts' accurate sniper shots.

As the Ghosts, Marines and Marauders are clearing Nod presence in the rear entrance, a 2nd squad units join them from behind. A team of Reaper jump-jet troopers fly into scene using their jet-packs, joining in the mayhem. The masked flying hardened ex-criminals from the "Icehouse"(1) proceed to execute Nod infantries up close with their dual P-38 Scythe gauss machine pistols, overwhelming the lightly armoured Devouts and Ascended with their speed and aggression. At the same time, the Reapers also toss D-8 deuterium demolition charges onto the Nod structures, demolishing them in an instant.

With the rear entrance defences overwhelmed by a combined assault of Siege Tanks, Ghosts, Marines, Marauders and Reapers, more Nova Squadron units join in the charge. Vikings and Ravens begin to enter the fray, pressuring the Nod defences even further...

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform Defence Base... Unspecified base corner...)

On one corner of the Nod base, there are fewer defences stationed there. This is mainly due to the reason that the corner is facing towards an inaccessible high ledge, hence the Nod commander in this base believes that there is no need to put too much defences at that corner. The only defences guarding that corner is an array of SAM Sites that will respond in the event of an airstrike and some Flame Columns if an enemy is to make a drop on that corner.

With so little defences, that corner will be an easy entry point into the Nod base if not the presence of the inaccessible ledge. However, this weak point is about to be exploited by the Dominion invaders soon...

Without warning, a squad of more than two dozens of Reapers approach from the top of the ledge, getting there through their jet-packs. Exploiting the higher ground advantage, the Reapers eye the defence turrets present at the base corner without fearing that the turrets will spot their approach. With the SAM Sites and Flame Columns in their sight, the Reapers begin to toss their D-8 demolition charges at the turrets with pin-point accuracy. The D-8 charges explode almost immediately upon contact, destroying the turrets before they can respond. With the turrets destroyed, the Reapers swoop right into the base from top of the ledge using their jet-packs. They soon spot their next target: a Nod War Factory.

Knowing that their gauss machine pistols are ineffective against vehicles, the Reapers waste no time in destroying before the War Factory can release a Nod vehicle to combat the Reapers. Once again, the D-8 charges work wonders in flattening the Nod structure before even a Raider can be released.

As the Reapers start to search for the next Nod structure to demolish, they have received orders to target some modular structures which their commander believes to be some sort of a power generator. Their commander believes that by destroying those modular power generating structures, they can slow down the productivity of the base and prevent the Nod structures from producing more units to stop the assault. Those Power Plant structures have been hidden from plain sight due to the overlapping cloaking field generated by the Disruption Towers, but they are tightly clustered together in one single point of the base. If the Reapers can reach that point, which is actually only a few hundred metres away from them, they can quickly destroy those structure en masse using their G-4 cluster bombs.

With their decisions being made, the Reapers charge towards site of the clustered Nod Power Plants at high speed using their nitro-boosted jet-packs. On their way, however, they quickly encounter a squad of Devouts rushing towards them with guns blazing. The Reapers skilfully dodge the rounds as they close in with their jet-packs, before finishing off the Devouts with accurate headshots with their gauss machine pistols. During the brief gunfight, a few Reapers have also been shot and killed by the chain gun rounds fired from the Devouts. Still, despite the few losses, the Reapers press on towards their targets.

The Reapers reach near the site where the Power Plants are situated, but they are unable to find the structures in their sight due to the cloaking field generated by nearby Disruption Towers. The problem is quickly corrected when a quick scanner sweep has been made and the revealed thermal images of the Power Plants have been transmitted into the visors of the Reapers. With their targets finally in their sight, the Reapers move in for the kill... only to be intercepted by a quad of Spider cyborgs.

The Spiders, seemingly aware of the Reapers' intentions, try to move in fast to stop the Reapers. They fire their MOLDS lasers at the rather large group of Reapers, in which the lasers disperse from their initial targeted Reaper and strike at the other Reapers near the initial target, killing a few of them. The Reapers, however, ignore the Spiders and press on towards their targets; they are just only a few more metres away from their tossing range. Intending to stop the Reapers from reaching the Power Plants, the Spiders spray their Synthetic Web towards the Dominion jump-jet infantries with their Spinneret web sprayer. The Synthetic Web hit its mark, enveloping almost all the Reapers in the inescapable web. However, the Spiders are soon aware that they are too late...

Just moments before the Synthetic Web captures most of the Reapers, the masked jump-jet infantries have already tossed their G-4 cluster bombs near the Power Plants. A few seconds after the timed charges have been thrown, they blow off, releasing huge chain explosions of shrapnel and heat. The blasts immediately incinerate the Power Plant cluster, flattening them and leaving most of them as rubble. A few Power Plants, which are situated further away from the area where the cluster bombers are thrown to, still stand; but they are unable to generate enough power to support the entire base...

With the destruction of more than half of the total number of Power Plants in the Nod base, the base experiences a horrible situation of suffering from low power in the midst of an invasion. Without sufficient power, not only do the production rate of Nod structures have been reduced, the defence structures can no longer function. As a result, the Viper Laser Cannons, SAM Sites and Flame Columns have stopped shooting at the Dominion forces, leaving themselves as stationary targets for the Dominion invaders. The Disruption Towers have also ceased to function, causing the cloaking fields to fade and their charges being revealed in plain sight. No longer under protection of a wide-area cloaking field, the entire Nod base is now fully vulnerable to being targeted by the Dominion war machines.

* * *

(Back at the Main Entrance...)

With the defending units spread thin and the defence structures being rendered useless, the Nod defences have collapsed under the intense assault of the Dominion troops. Waves and waves of Dominion soldiers and vehicles are pouring into the Nod base, crushing any forms of Nod resistance along their way. Without sufficient power in the base to produce units at the maximum rate, the Nod forces can no longer keep up with the relentless assaults of the Dominion forces. Without the support of defence structures, more and more Nod units lie dead or destroyed across the orbital platform.

Then, the Battlecruisers arrive; raining bombardments of lasers from their ATS laser batteries. Structures burst into flames; infantries set ablaze by laser fire; vehicles burst into flaming wreckages... as the newly arrived Battlecruisers proceed to deal the finishing blow to Nod resistance on the orbital platform.

* * *

(Back at Rear Entrance 3...)

With the Nod base infrastructure already crumbling under the assault by the Battlecruisers, the Nova Squadron rushes into the base without facing much resistance. As the small squad Ghosts lead the rest of the assaulting Nova Squadron infantries straight into the core of the base, the Hellions, Vikings and Siege Tanks proceed to destroy all standing Nod structures in their way.

* * *

(A few minutes later... Nod Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform Defence Base Core Region...)

The core region of the Nod base on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform is made up of a single Construction Yard and several more Cranes flanked by a Hand of Nod and a War Factory. The region is initially protected by several Viper Laser Cannons and SAM Sites, and hidden by cloaking field generated by several Disruption Towers. However, with the base in low power, the region is totally exposed and the defence turrets are no longer functional. The only available defenders of the region are only a few squads of Devouts, Ascended, Raiders, Attack Bikes and Scorpion Tanks.

These few defenders, however, are no match against the full onslaught of an armada of Battlecruisers heading towards the region. Despite their efforts, the few squads of Nod defenders are quick to fall under the heavy barrage of lasers delivered by the Battlecruisers. Then, a few Yamato Cannons are fired against the Hand of Nod and the War Factory; fully flattening the structures and completely halting the Nod forces' ability to produce additional units.

As the Battlecruisers proceed to finish off the rest of the standing Nod structures, the squad of Marines, Marauders and Reapers led by some Ghosts from the Nova Squadron has arrived the scene. They have been tasked by Colonel Akira Yamada to infiltrate the enemy Command Centre, which is apparently this Nod Construction Yard, to look for enemy plans and capture some prisoners for interrogation.

A few D-8 charges blast a huge hole in the entrance of the Construction Yard, allowing the Nova Squadron infantries to enter the structure.

* * *

(Inside the Construction Yard Command Room...)

The young commander in charge of this base knows he is doomed...

He has been tasked by the Commander to guard this base and to warn the Brotherhood from any planetary invasions, which is coming from the Dominion in this case. The base itself serves as an orbital defence platform against any form of space invasion, so he should be able to defeat this invasion easily. Even if the defences have failed, he should be able to call in reinforcements from the surface and from Nod outposts from neighbouring planets.

However, a few things went wrong...

Firstly, the young commander in charge has been misinformed about when the invasion would take place. As a result, many of his ships and aircrafts were still under maintenance when the invasion had taken place. Without the support of his ships and aircrafts, the defences are no match against the mighty armada of the joint fleet of Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron, which comprised of more than 40 capital ships.

Secondly, the young commander in charge only manages to sound the alarm of the invasion to the surface. However, before he can call for reinforcements from outside of this world, the enemy forces had destroyed the communication array, cutting off any forms of communication from this world. From that moment, all Nod forces on Bhekar Ro had been isolated from outside aid.

Finally, for some reasons, the Commander had refused to send in any aids to the orbital platform. During the brief period when the young commander in charge managed to establish a communication link to the Commander on the planet surface, the Commander had given an absolute order to defend the platform till the very last man. However, the Commander had never mentioned about sending in reinforcements from the surface to rescue the defenders on the orbital platform. Even as the battle on the orbital platform was drawing to the end, there were still no signs of reinforcements coming from the surface.

As the young commander in charge sees his base in shambles, he knows that all have been lost. There will be no reinforcements coming to rescue him and his forces. Then, when he discovers through a security footage in the Construction Yard that a team of Dominion infantries, led by a few Ghosts, has entered the premises, the commander in charge realises that there will be no way out.

Perhaps due to his absolute faith in the Brotherhood's ideology, the commander in charge shows no fear. He has recalls that the Commander did assure him that even if the orbital platform would fall, the Commander would have devised plans that would ensure the total destruction of their enemies. Instead, he is ready to atone for his sins of defeat by making sure that the Dominion infantries would not get what they want from this infiltration. With his last act of defiance, the young commander activates a self-destruction button on the control panel.

In an instant, the entire Construction Yard complex collapses, burying all people inside under the rubble. It happens so quickly, that not even the Ghosts leading the infiltration are quick enough to realise the building's self-destruction.

With the collapse of the last Nod structure on the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, Nod's secrets remain hidden... for now...

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

Colonel Yamada sighs inwardly as he learns about the collapse of the Nod Construction Yard, knowing that his plan to at least learn a bit more about the enemy's plans has failed when he lost contact with the Ghosts that he had assigned to infiltrate the enemy's centre of command. Now, he will have to stick with the original plan of sending Agent Nova and some Ghosts to infiltrate Nod bases on the surface if he wants to learn about the full details of the Brotherhood of Nod.

Throughout the entire battle for the orbital platform, he did learn a few facts about this new enemy of the Dominion. Firstly, as Colonel Thompson had theorised earlier, Nod forces are relatively weak when faced in a direct frontal assault. Nod units may have superior offensive and support capabilities, most of their units have relatively weak armour that are unable to take in too much punishments. This battle on the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, which is open terrain with little cover, has proven so when Nod defenders had been forced to face against Dominion forces in a direct confrontation when their stealth capabilities had been neutralised by Ravens and scanner sweeps from Orbital Command Centres. Without cover and nowhere to hide, the lightly armoured Nod units had became exposed to the relentless Dominion assaults, which they were too weakly protected against. The only way for the Nod defenders to keep on battling against the Dominion forces head on was to rely on numbers; but once this advantage had been removed, the Nod units had became easy pickings for the Dominion units.

Secondly, he did learn a key weakness in a Nod base infrastructure. Unlike Dominion defence structures, in which each of them was run from an independent power source, Nod defence structures appeared to run entirely from an external centralised power source. In fact, the entire base could only run in maximum efficiency when there was enough power generated by these external power sources, the Power Plants. Without these Power Plants, the entire Nod base could fall into disarray. In the next coming assault against Nod forces on Bhekar Ro surface, this is going to be one key weakness that Akira is planning to exploit against the Brotherhood of Nod.

Finally, he did learn that although Nod forces are weak in direct confrontations, they are still not to be underestimated. The reason is because of their overall military technology, which is much more superior than the Dominion's. They had already shown their superior laser weaponry systems, which were accurate enough to target at aerial units while on the move. Their cybernetic technology were so advanced that they could literally convert a human into a simple minded killing machine in the form of a variety of combat cyborgs. Akira had also observed the ability of the Brotherhood of Nod to quickly assemble structures and replenish their weapons, leading him to suspect that the Nod forces also had superior nanotechnology for instant material assembly. If the Dominion is to seize these technologies and absorb them as its own, it would be unstoppable against any forms of invasions, regardless of human or alien origin. It is no wonder why Arcturus Mengsk is so eager to obtain information from this new enemy.

As Akira is making conclusions on his finds during the battle against the Brotherhood of Nod, the commander of Nova Squadron suddenly receives an alert call from the ship's adjutant,

"COMMANDER; I HAVE JUST ANALYSED THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE OF BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM. THE ORBITAL PLATFORM HAS BEEN RECENTLY MODIFIED BY THE BROTHERHOOD OF NOD, WITH SEVERAL ADDITIONAL FEATURES THAT DID NOT MATCH TO THOSE RECORED IN OUR ARCHIVES."

"Define those several additional features."

"I HAVE DISCOVERED MULTIPLE SITES WHERE CACHES OF PROCESSED CRYSTALS HAVE BEEN STORED IN THE INTERIOR CHAMBERS OF THE PLATFORM. IT IS LIKELY THAT THESE CHAMBERS SERVE AS RESOURCE STOCKPILE FOR THE NOD FORCES. I HAVE ALSO DETECTED SEVERAL SITES WITHIN THE INTERIOR CHAMBERS OF THE ORBITAL PLATFORM WHERE SOME KIND OF GENERATORS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED. THESE GENERATORS PRODUCE ENERGY SIGNATURES THAT MATCH TO THOSE OF A GRAVITY WELL. ENERGY READINGS SUGGEST THAT THESE GENERATORS CAN GENERATE ENOUGH FORCE TO GROUND ENTIRE FLEETS NEAR THE VICINITY OF THE PLATFORM AND PREVENT ESCAPE INTO WARP SPACE."

Upon hearing the discovery made by the adjutant's analysis, Akira is now puzzled of the Brotherhood's reasons of modifying Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. He can understand why the Nod forces is making resource stockpiles in the interior chambers, but he cannot understand why the Nod forces build gravity wells as well. Gravity wells are usually built on orbital platforms to prevent ships from leaving the system, a measure to prevent desertion of troops in the midst of an orbital battle. If the Brotherhood has built a few of these wells to prevent their ships from deserting the space battle, then this is one reason that Akira can contemplate with. However, he is still puzzled why the Nod forces had built so much wells that the generated gravitational pull can halt entire fleet from leaving the system. It is as if the Brotherhood of Nod is trying to make sure that no one, Nod or Dominion, will leave this planet.

'Strange... if the enemy wants to prevent desertion in their ranks, they should have activated the gravity wells by the start of the battle... so what is the true purpose of these wells?'

Not willing to let this question to be left aside, Akira asks, "Adjutant; are these gravity wells activated remotely or manually?"

"ANALYSIS OF THE GRAVITY WELLS SUGGESTED THAT THESE WELLS CAN BE ACTIVATED BY BOTH MEANS..."

'Both means... then this is not making any sense! The Nod forces must have an ulterior motive for installing these wells other than preventing desertion in their ranks. It is sounding too much like a way of entrapment...'

"Commander Yamada! I've sensed that you are greatly disturbed in your mind... is everything okay?" Natasha asks.

The commander of Nova Squadron turns towards his Ghost bodyguard, before answering, "Not really! The operation on this orbital platform is so far a success, but analysis conducted by the adjutant had uncover abnormal circumstances that had not been included in our calculations. I fear that the enemy has hidden a trap somewhere in this platform; and the gravity wells could be the key."

"Are you suggesting of deserting this operation, commander?"

Akira knows the hidden meaning of this question, and he knows that one wrong answer would result in the loss of his own life.

"No! This operation must be resumed. However, I have decided not to set up my command post on the platform. I will stay in this command bridge throughout the entire operation."

The brunette Ghost remains silent for a few seconds, before replying with a satisfaction, "Very well! We'll do as you command."

Akira sighs in relief, knowing that he has just dodged a bullet. Then, he realises that he has to inform this discovery to his allies as well.

"Adjutant; relay this discovery to Colonel Thompson on _Grendel _as well. The Delta Squadron must be aware of this find too!"

"ACKNOWLEDGED, COMMANDER! TRANSMITTING MESSAGE TO _GRENDEL_, STANDBY..."

* * *

(A few seconds later... inside _Grendel _control bridge...)

Colonel Gary Thompson of the Delta Squadron has just received the discovery of additional structures in the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, namely the resource stockpiles and gravity wells installed in the interior chambers of the platform by the Brotherhood of Nod. However, while the commander of the Nova Squadron sees these finds as a sign of a trap, the commander of the Delta Squadron dismisses them as anything significant. Although he does agree that these finds have suggested abnormal responses from the enemy forces during the space assault against the orbital platform, they do not seem to pose any forms of direct threats to his forces other than halting the fleet to leave the planet. Besides, he is not planning to leave the planet anyway; he still has a planet to recapture. Once their mission has been done, he can always send in troops into the chambers to deactivate the wells manually when they are about to leave. He needs to settle his large forces on the orbital platform so that he can coordinate them properly for the coming planetfall assault onto Bhekar Ro surface.

Hence Gary makes the decision to set up his command post on the orbital platform despite warnings from the Nova Squadron. He is not planning to let a paranoid defector to ruin his chance of attaining glory just because that commander had a gut feeling that the enemy had set a trap on the platform.

* * *

(Bhekar Ro Main Nod Base HQ...)

"COMMANDER; WE HAVE LOST CONTACT WITH OUR FORCES STATIONED ON BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM. DOMINION FORCES HAD OVERRUN AND CAPTURED THE PLATFORM. A PLANETFALL INVASION IS EMINENT!"

"What about the status of the enemy forces?" the Commander asks the advanced Nod AI.

"DOMINION FLEET SUFFERED LOW TO MILD CASUALTIES. THE TASK FORCE IN THIS INVASION IS MADE UP OF 2 SQUADRONS: DELTA SQUADRON AND THE NOVA SQUADRON. THE DELTA SQUADRON COMPRISES MORE THAN 75% OF THIS TASK FORCE. WHILE THE NOVA SQUADRON IS THE SMALLER FORCE OUT OF THE TWO, IT HAS BEEN WARNED OF THE PRESENCE OF HIGHLY TRAINED DOMINION GHOSTS IN THEIR RANKS. THE BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM HAD DEPLETED DELTA SQUADRON BY 20%, WHILE NOVA SQUADRON ONLY SUFFERED ABOUT 7% OF THEIR ENTIRE FORCES. THERE ARE CURRENTLY 44 DOMINION CAPITAL SHIPS STILL IN HIGH ORBIT ABOVE BHEKAR RO; ESCAPE FROM PLANET IS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE!"

Despite the grim announcement made by LEGION, the Commander remains calm and collected in his seat. In fact, he is smirking.

"Good! Everything is going according to my plan. Let those Dominion fools have their false sensation of victory and come to get us with full confidence, only to find total defeat! LEGION; activate all disruption fields across all our bases; alert all forces to prepare for the defence of this planet! It's time to show them the true might of the Brotherhood's wrath!"

"AFFIRMATIVE! COMMANDER; THE ENEMY'S FIRST PRIORITY TARGET WOULD MOST LIKELY TO BE THE MAIN BROADCAST STATION ON BASE 10. I SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD CONCENTRATE THE DEFENCES ON THAT BASE ALONE. ANOTHER POTENTIAL TARGET WOULD BE THE CONFEDERATE ADJUTANT OBTAINED BY AGENT ARCHIE FROM RAYNOR'S RAIDERS, WHICH IS CURRENTLY RELOCATED TO OUPOST 20. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT BOTH TARGETS MUST BE PROTECTED FROM DOMINION FORCES AT ALL COSTS!"

"Understood! LEGION; since the Nova Squadron is involved in this invasion, we must expect infiltration attempts made by Dominion Ghost agents; prepare appropriate defences against those Ghosts in all major installations!"

"AFFIRMATIVE, COMMANDER! ESTABLISHING BATTLEFIELD CONTROL... STANDBY..."

* * *

(A few hours later at High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform...)

Rows and rows of Dominion units are gathered in neat files, ready for their next mission. These are soldiers of the Delta Squadron, made up of thousands of Marines, Marauders and Reapers; all fully rested, resupplied and ready to board their ships. As the Delta Squadron infantries board their respective transport ships, comprising of Medivac Dropships and Hercules Dropships, the nearby vehicles of the same squadron are boarding theirs too. These vehicles comprise mainly 2 of the most commonly sighted models in the Dominion, the Hellion-class light attack vehicle and Crucio-class Siege Tanks. Vikings are transforming from their walker form in assault mode into the airborne fighter mode, ready to escort the transports to the planet surface and join in the planetfall assault as well.

With a vast number of units ready for the invasion, Delta Squadron sets off for the planetfall assault, heading towards the planet surface...

* * *

(At the same time... High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... inside _Mjolnir_ control bridge...)

Colonel Akira Yamada is about to finish briefing each and every individual Ghosts in their following assignments when the Nova Squadron will later join the Delta Squadron the planet-wide assault against Nod forces on Bhekar Ro. Each Ghost has been assigned to a specific type of mission during the campaign, ranging from scouting, infiltration, sabotage, to direct combat and support in battlefield. Now, Akira is briefing the last agent for the most important mission in this operation; Nova Terra, the star agent of the Nova Squadron and a personal favourite of Arcturus Mengsk himself.

"Agent Nova; I will provide my full assistance in your mission assigned to you by Emperor Arcturus Mengsk." The Commander of Nova Squadron informs the star Ghost agent, who is communicating through a Drop Pod, "While you'll be conducting the infiltration of the enemy main broadcast station alone, I will be sending a few specialised divisions to aid you in reaching your target unobstructed."

"Understood, sir! I hope your assistance will provide enough distraction to the enemy main forces away from me as I conduct my mission!" Nova replies.

"Will do... and... good luck, Nova!"

After the finishing his words with Akira, Nova's Drop Pod is ejected from _Mjolnir_; heading towards the hostile surface of Bhekar Ro...

Nova's real mission is about to begin...

* * *

(High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... somewhere far away from Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform...)

While the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron joint fleet task force is gathering forces on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, preparing for their final invasion into Nod territory, a single ship manages to slip into Bhekar Ro High Orbit unnoticed. This ship, a modified Behemoth-class Battlecruiser, has made use of an advanced radar scrambler on board of the ship to hide the ship's signature from the Dominion task force's scanners.

This ship is no other than the flagship and headquarter of the Raynor's Raiders:

_Hyperion_...

* * *

(Inside _Hyperion _control bridge...)

"Wow... that's a hell lot of ships... Jimmy..." Tychus exclaims as the _Hyperion _crew take a peek of the size of the Dominion joint fleet task force stationed near the planet's orbital platform through the ship's scanners.

"Indeed!" the outlaw leader replies, "Let's hope that our newly bought scrambler thing can fool the Dominion fleet long enough for us to finish getting that thing back from Noddies' hands."

"But sir..." Matt Horner suddenly interrupts the conversation, "with so much Dominion forces out there, the Nod forces must be on high alert! How will we be able to extract the adjutant when the Nod forces are in a state of mind in shooting anything that does not belong to their side? Besides, we might even run across Mengsk's forces when we get there!"

"I know... " Jim replies, "that's why we're not going to do this ourselves."

"Huh? What the hell does that mean, old buddy?" Tychus asks.

"You'll find out soon... Tosh, you can come in now!"

To the surprise of the _Hyperion _crew present in the bridge, a man is entering the bridge; one who is usually found hanging out in the cantina and nowhere else.

"Hello brothers! Miss me much ,eh?" the man greets to all present in the bridge, revealing himself to be the fugitive Spectre agent Gabriel Tosh, dressed in his black and red Spectre hazard suit.

"Tosh! What is he doing here?" Matt asks, while his gaze remains fixed on the white eyed ex-Ghost. Like most other crew members in _Hyperion_, Matt never trusts that Spectre since they have met, finding to him to be a serious threat to the safety of the entire crew on board of his ship.

"Relax, Matt, I summoned him here." Jim assures the crew that Gabriel Tosh is not here for any ulterior motives. Then, he turns his attention back to Tosh, "Alright Tosh, it's now time for you to fulfil your part of the deal."

"It's time, eh? So let me get this straight; I'll just need to find that piece of adjutant and use this drive to extract every piece of information from that thing, right?" Gabriel asks, holding a small memory drive in his right hand.

"That's right! According to Mira, Orlan had finished decrypting that adjutant before he got killed. This means that we don't really need the adjutant itself, just any records or information that it holds. That is why I want you, Tosh, to get in there stealthily, extract the juicy part that we need, get out and give it to us. The location of that adjutant is recorded in this scanner through a tracking beacon we'd installed in the adjutant, you can use this to find it." Jim answers, while tossing the scanner into Gabriel's other free hand.

"That sounds dangerous, brother! You're expecting me to do this solo? I thought you said that those Noddies are never to be underestimated, yet you are sending me to face them by myself? Are you trying to get rid of me, brother?"

"Don't worry, Tosh! With those Mengsk's boys busy playing with the Noddies, I bet none of them will even bother a lone Spectre working in the shadows. Isn't that what you guys are best in doing? Didn't you say that you guys are the next-generation Ghosts? If you are the head of the group, I believe that you have the skills necessary to get the job done."

"I know, brother... but... I can sense Mengsk's loyal Ghosts in this Dominion forces! I might risk those loyalists finding my presence; they'll be definitely after me!"

"Then don't get caught! If those Ghosts are giving you too much trouble, lure them to the Noddies! Let them fight each other out! Remember, if you can complete this job, I'll uphold my part of the deal and help you bail your buddies out of New Folsom."

"Let them fight each other out, eh? I guess it's easier said than done. Regardless, you win, brother! I'll help you get that whatever information you want out from that adjutant. Just remember your part of the deal! If you try to betray me, something bad is bound to happen to you, brother..."

"Is that a threat, Tosh?" Jim is not taking Gabriel's last words kindly. The others present in the room are also feeling nervous with Gabriel's choice of words, with a few of them trying to reach out for their hidden weapons. Tension is now running high in the control bridge.

Tosh's white eyes stare intensively at Raynor's brown eyes, before Tosh chuckles in a laughter, "Nah, just kidding brother! Alright, I guess it's time for me to get to work! See you guys later!"

Gabriel begins to walk out of the room, heading towards whatever place where he would gear up and prepare to go to perform his mission for the Raynor's Raiders. The Spectre is about to step out of the room, before making one final reminder to the raiders, "Just don't forget your part, brothers!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Covert Operations

The ground battle for Bhekar Ro is about to begin. The Delta Squadron is trying to overwhelm Nod's ground defences with their massive forces. Nova is about to find a way to infiltrate Nod's main broadcast station with the aid of a few units. Tosh is about to find his own way to locate the lost adjutant that got robbed from Nod forces on Deadman's Port.

* * *

(1) If you do not know, the "Icehouse" is the nickname of a training installation in Torus System where all Dominion Reapers are trained.

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Ascended

Role: Light anti-air/armour infantry

Armament: Dual Dragon rocket launchers

Appearance: Similar to a Devout, except with both arms replaced cybernetically with rocket launchers

While most recruit Nod soldiers who have completed their military combat trainings will be drafted into the ranks of Devouts, some of them will choose to have their arms surgically removed and replaced with cybernetically enhanced dual Dragon rocket launchers instead of standard dual wrist-mounted chain guns. These soldiers will be known as Ascended, which serve as another alternative for anti-air or anti-armour operations other than cyborgs. Compared to cyborg units such as Enlightened and Spiders, Ascended are much less armoured, with durability comparable to those of a standard Devout. However, they are cheaper and more easily created and trained compared to cyborg units, making cheaper to train and easier to amass compared to cyborgs.

* * *

My Nod Structure List:

**Disruption Tower: **Creates a permanent cloaking field that cloaks surrounding friendly units and structures. However, the Disruption Tower cannot cloak itself, even by another Disruption Tower. Also, if the base has experienced low power, the tower will fail and the generated cloaking field will disappear.

More structure list coming soon...

* * *

Chameleon Artillery vs. Crucio Siege Tank (Siege mode)

Another suggestion by MegaAuthor. Although honestly speaking this battle outcome is pretty obvious, I still think I should do this battle since I did one for the Siege Tank in tank mode last chapter.

**Chameleon:**

The Chameleon self-propelled artillery walker is the current continuation of the Nod's fabled Spectre line of stealth artillery systems in the previous Tiberium Wars. Like its predecessors, the Chameleon is able to cloak and hide itself from plain sight, and is armed with a powerful long range 180mm plasma shock cannon, which is rumoured to be taken from those of Dominion's Crucio-class Siege Tanks. Unlike its predecessors, however, Chameleons are quadruped walkers that can still fire at their enemies while remained cloaked as long as there is enough energy available in its Ezekiel-class reactor. While its top speed is slower than its predecessors, it has a better all-terrain capability and can dig its legs into any kind of terrain for stability while firing its massive cannon, increasing its accuracy and precision even firing at long distances. However, like most other Nod's stealth units, the Chameleon trades its armour for its stealth capabilities, meaning that it is very lightly armoured and will be vulnerable to enemy counterattacks if its position is exposed.

**Siege Tank:**

Besides performing the role as a frontline main battle tank, the Crucio-class Siege Tank, like its predecessor the Arclite-class Siege Tank, can transform and convert itself into a stationary long range artillery platform. In doing so, it deploys stabilising stands on each side, spreading and distributing its 4 threads into an X-pattern while transforming and converting its twin 90mm plasma cannon turret into a 180mm plasma shock cannon. In siege mode, the Siege Tank relies on its brutish firepower to overwhelm enemy positions from afar, outranging almost all known land based weaponry other than nukes. Being transformed from a main battle tank, the Siege Tank retains its heavy armour in its siege mode, but it still suffers from the inability to defend itself from aerial enemies and unable to detect hidden hostiles.

**Comparison**

In this comparison between two artillery platforms, both sides use the same type of weapon: a single 180mm plasma shock cannon. However, the two different self-propelled artillery systems rely on completely different ways to protect themselves. The Siege Tank relies on its heavy tank armour to absorb blows after blows, while the Chameleon relies on its stealth capability to hide itself from plain sight. If this is the case, this means that the Siege Tank can take in more punishments, but it cannot do a thing to a cloaked Chameleon unless gaining support from a detector or the Chameleon runs out of energy in its Ezekiel reactor. Also, with the Chameleon's slightly smaller profile, the Siege Tank may probably have a slight difficulty in scoring a solid hit from a far distance. On the other hand, the Chameleon is unable to take in too much solid hits from the Siege Tank with it light armour.

As both vehicles use the same type of weapon, the firepower of both sides would equally match each other. The comparison of the offensive capabilities of both artilleries would be determined by their speed of deployment and stability of the artillery platform while firing. The stability of the platform while firing would determine which artillery would have a better performance in terms of accuracy and precision. In these two departments, the Chameleon would triumph over the Siege Tank. As the Siege Tank is required to deploy its stabilising stands, rotate its threads and transform its entire turret, the Chameleon simply needs to spread its legs apart, dig in and lift up its cannon. While the Siege Tank in siege mode gets its stability with its stabilising stands and spread out threads, the Chameleon spreads and digs all its 4 legs widely apart. The digging part means that the Chameleon can hardly move even when under the recoil of its massive gun, hence it would have a slight edge in stability of the platform while firing. This would also mean that the Chameleon would have a slight edge in precision and accuracy compared to the Siege Tank.

Chameleon's edge:

Slightly smaller profile, more evasive

Cloaking

Faster deployment

More stable on firing

More accurate and precise

Siege Tank's edges:

More heavily armoured

Slightly faster speed

**Conclusion**

Chameleon wins if:

The Chameleon uses its cloaking ability. As long as the Chameleon has enough energy stored in its Ezekiel reactor to remain cloaked, the Nod's artillery would easily have this battle in its bag.

Siege Tank wins if:

Unless the Siege Tank gets additional support from detectors, there is not much chance a Siege Tank can win this battle unless it can roughly guess out the location of the Chameleon and just bombard at the site randomly, hoping that the massive splash damage would eventually take out its lightly armoured opponent.

* * *

Looks like Nod forces have lost this round, but this is mainly because the Brotherhood has not gone all out in this war yet. The Commander also wants to set up a trap for the incoming Dominion forces too, and he needs them to be in an aggressive stance in order for his plans to work. I know that many of you would be disappointed of not seeing an Obelisk of Light in action in this battle, but it will be coming up in the next chapter. So stay tuned!


	24. Act 23: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Covert Ops

Anyone watched the Generals 2 debut trailer? The whole thing looks pretty promising to me. Can't wait for 2013 to come.

To MegaAuthor: Thanks for your compliments! Actually, I am quite aware of Bhekar Ro's history in the Starcraft lore, including the historical Battle of Bhekar Ro and the existance of the energy creature. For plot purpose, I decided to change this canon part in that the Dominion still took hold of Bhekar Ro as one of their territories in this story. There will be also a reason why the Brotherhood finds this territory important and decides to build a galactic broadcast station over there.

To lost guy on the lost planet: That's a lot of questions, but I'll try to answer them. Although I also like the TW3 Venom, I kinda like the rocket launching TW4 Venom even more. I think rockets kind of make the Venoms a little bit more threatening compared to using laser cannons. Besides, it is part of balancing out the Nod Air Force, with each air unit given a specific role. The Venom would be tasked mainly as aircraft killers that work in small numerous swarms to overwhelm larger ships or fighters. The role of anti-personnel aircraft would be given to the napalm spewing Salamander or the carpet bombing Vertigo. I only give them rockets because it does not seem wise to arm too much weapon to a small craft like a Venom, which has to rely on its speed and numbers for its own protection. Too much weapon would just slow it down, making it easier to destroy.

The Enlightened in this story uses 70mm cannons because the Enlightened in TW4 uses cannons as their weapons. Once again, it is also part of balancing the Nod infantry forces and it is also part of saving costs for the Brotherhood. Lasers and particle beams may be powerful, but they are too costly to fit onto so much cyborgs, which are now mass produced in vast quantities.

Nod Marine in the previous chapter refers to Nod infantries wearing stolen or purchased standard Terran Marine CMC armour, but with Nod's black and red paintjob.

As for the Avatar... it will be making an appearance in a few more chapters later...

To Kane: Sorry, but there won't be GDI tech coming up any sooner in this story... not so fast yet. In my personal opinion, I don't think that Kane would be storing any blueprints or data regarding on GDI related tech unless the tech proves useful to the Brotherhood's cause (eg. Walker tech). For a bunch of fanatically religious zealots, I believe that they may find these techs as 'oppressive and heretically evil'. If Kane truly want to use these techs, we should be seeing Nod Juggernaughts or Mammoth Tanks by the time of Tiberium Twilight.

To Blanchimont: Well, I hate to say... but... you'd guessed all correct!

To all: GDI or their related tech would not be making an appearance yet... at least not yet in this part of trilogy. They will be referred in flashbacks though. But don't worry, I will assure that once they return, they will kick the ass of anyone that tries to stand in their way, even if they are Protoss, Zergs or Scrin.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

HUMMMMMMMMM...

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 23: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: COVERT OPERATIONS**

(Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

Sirens are wailing across the entire Nod compound of Bhekar Ro Base no. 10, where a large galactic broadcast station is located in. Just a few minutes ago, it had been confirmed that the orbital defences on the planet's orbital platform had been overrun by a Dominion joint fleet task force, comprising of Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron. It would be a matter of time before these 2 Dominion squadrons would send in ground forces down onto the surface and do the same to the ground defences.

Right now, as the Nod production structures are releasing Nod combat units out in preparation for the defence of the premises, more defence structures have been deployed and unfolded, scattered across the base and along the base perimeter. Power Plant clusters had been scattered in 4 separate regions in the base, a result of a lesson learnt from the defeat of the Nod forces on the orbital platform. While the defence turrets are activated and put to high alert for enemy presence, Disruption Towers begin to activate and hide nearby Nod structures and units in an invisible cloaking field.

* * *

(Inside Bhekar Ro Main Broadcast Station...)

The main broadcast station has been converted into a command headquarters for the defence of this base and most importantly... this station.

A bald man with a cybernetic right eye is staring intensively at his battlefield control panel. He is Archdeacon Ricardo, a member of the Order of the Black Hand cult who has allied and served under the Commander. Right now, the Black Hand archdeacon is in charge of the defences of this broadcast station, which has been considered as a sacred propaganda station by the Brotherhood of Nod. Hence it is imperative for the Order of the Black Hand to defend this high priority target at all costs.

As Archdeacon Ricardo is busy deploying his troops, a hologram projection suddenly lights up in front of his battlefield control panel, showing the Commander himself. The Black Hand archdeacon quickly greets the chief commander.

"How's the preparations of the defences in Base 10, Ricardo?" the Commander asks.

"All have been going along well, Commander! Power output's been normal, production is going along at full efficiency, and all defence structures are functioning normally; the base is prepared for any Dominion attacks!" Ricardo replies.

"How about the disruption fields that I have told you to set up?"

"Also ready, Commander! I have deployed ample of units and turrets to defend the disruption field generators if those foolish Dominion troops have discovered their importance! I even have the surprise weapon that you have given to me ready to be unleashed against them! The Dominion would soon realise that their greatest and most powerful weapon would be of no use against us!"

"That's good, archdeacon, but remember this: don't underestimate the Dominion forces. We may have neutralised their most powerful weapons, but they still have the numbers and their other formidable war machines and ships that can easily lay waste of our base of operations no matter how many base defences we have. The Dominion forces in this task force are well prepared to counter our stealth units, so we must deploy our units more carefully. Intelligence have suggested a sizeable number of Ghosts present in this task force, and they would be a huge threat to our defences. I need you to prepare defences against these Ghosts and make sure that they would not ruin everything before I can spring the trap."

"How much longer before we can spring the trap, Commander?"

"LEGION has estimated another 2 more hours before the trap is ready, but we can only spring it once the Dominion task force has landed most of their ground troops on the surface."

"Understood, Commander! Don't worry, sir, I would make sure that the Dominion heretics would not harm this sacred structure during my watch. My legions of Black Hands are ready to purge any unbelievers that dare to intrude this sacred structure."

"Good to hear that, Archdeacon, but I have to remind you that even the best Black Hand elites will have trouble combating a well-trained Dominion Ghost. Hence, as a precaution, I would be sending Cyborg Commando no. 99 to your base."

"Thank you, Commander! I won't disappoint you!"

"I hope you won't, archdeacon! The great messiah is now watching us as we speak. Now go... and make Kane proud!"

The hologram projection fades as the Commander ends his transmission with Archdeacon Ricardo. Realising that Kane may be watching over this operation, Ricardo strives to succeed in keeping the Dominion invaders from harming this holy broadcast station and make both the messiah and the Commander proud. He is ready to cleanse anyone that dares to intrude this sacred land... Ghost or not!

* * *

(About 30 miles north of Base 10...)

A massive division of Dominion's Delta Squadron units has landed on a large stretch of abandoned farmlands. As Vikings begin transforming and dropping down from fighter mode to assault mode, G-226 Medivac Dropships and Hercules-class Dropships are dropping down squads of Marines, Marauders, Reapers, SCVs, Hellions and Crucio-class Siege Tanks, while multiple structures, including a Command Centre, are beginning to touch down near a rather depleted resource field. Above the landing party, a flight of half a dozen Raven support crafts and 3 Minotaur-class Battlecruisers, namely the _Cretan Bull_, _Manticore _and _Minos_, are overseeing the landing operation; all of them are on a lookout for possible Nod ambushes.

The Delta Squadron 2nd Division had been tasked by Colonel Gary Thompson to play as the main force that will be making a direct assault against the Nod base where the galactic broadcast station had been located according to Dominion intelligence. Although Colonel Akira Yamada of the Nova Squadron had already made it clear that the broadcast station was a top-priority infiltration target by one of Mengsk's pet Ghost and would be considered as off-limits unless the infiltration had been done, Colonel Thompson does not care much about the risk of jeopardising the Ghost's mission by leading a direct assault onto the base where the target was located. To the Delta Squadron commander, his chief target is just the Nod presence in that area, not the broadcast station. In fact, he thinks he would be doing that Ghost a favour by 'clearing the path'.

When the 2nd Division was making their way onto the surface, they faced no opposition; there was nothing around trying to stop their landing. The only problem they faced was that they could not find a suitable landing site since the region was quite heavily forested and there was strangely no resource field with rich amounts of minerals and vespene gas. The closest suitable spot they could find was this one which was about 30 miles north of their target; quite far and not very practical to stage an assault. The amount of resources present around the site was quite scarce as well, but this is the best spot the division can find. With limited resources, the 2nd Division will have to plan their assault carefully or they will risk running out of ammunitions and tools to accomplish their mission.

Right now, as the structures are being set up by the SCVs to begin the operation of Forward Base no. 2, the combat units are patrolling around the base perimeter on a lookout for enemy presence. The last thing they want to occur is a sudden sneak attack that will fully cripple the base's operation before it can even fully begin.

* * *

(About 2 miles southwest of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

A lone Drop Pod crashes down onto a small green hill. As the crashed pod sizzles in white hot smoke due to its long descent from the stratosphere, the hatch of the Drop Pod is kicked open, revealing a beautiful blonde Ghost wearing a white and blue Ghost hazard suit and with her long blonde hair tied to a single ponytail. She is Agent Nova Terra, one of the Dominion's best Ghost agent who is said to have such a ridiculously high PI reading of 10 that she can almost match to those psionic might of the Queen of Blades herself.

As the star Ghost surveys her surroundings, showing no signs of distress from the crash landing just seconds ago, Nova reaches out for her long range communicator in her headphone to contact with the Nova Squadron HQ, "_bzz..._This is Agent Nova to _Mjolnir_ command: I've reached the planet surface and I'm currently about 2miles southwest of the target... requesting for further advices..."

A few seconds later, a reply is made when a deep Japanese accent is sounded into Nova's headphone, _"Nova; you'll be crossing a small stretch of forest before you'll reach an open farmland. There is a road in the stretch of farmland that will lead to the Nod base where the broadcast station is located in. The base has been cloaked, but with your psionic radar, I believe that it won't be making any difference for you. I have to warn you though... that the base entrance where the road leads to is heavily guarded with multiple turrets... which I think are all capable of detection. The base interior itself is also heavily guarded, with a mixture of large numbers of infantries and vehicles; some being cloaked too. There are patrols of Nod bikes and light fighters circling around the base perimeter, which our intelligence has suggested them to have detector functions too. I advise you to stay put first, Nova, and let the Delta Squadron 2nd Division to first distract that base's defenders. I'll be sending a few more Ghosts to mark the perimeter defences for tactical nuke bombing and soften up their defences before you can proceed with your mission."_

"Understood, sir!"

_"And beware; our sensors have picked up enemy units heading towards your direction. The descent of your Drop Pod must have alerted them about your arrival. Try not to get discovered, but if there is no other alternatives, you are cleared to engage the enemies at will. Good luck, Nova! Mjolnir out!"_

"As you wish, sir! Nova out!"

After ending her communication, Nova picks up her C20A canister rifle slung behind her back and lowers down her spec ops goggles to her eye level. By coordinating her senses using her psionic radar with her spec ops goggles, she sees and identifies a patrol of half a dozen Nod heavy infantries heading towards her way from some hundred metres away inside the forest ahead. These infantries wear heavy power suits that appear to be as heavy or even heavier than the Marauders' CMC-660 heavy power suit, with large fuel tanks carried on their backs. They are armed with what appears to be a single heavy flamethrower. A noticeable feature of them are their helmets: black full cover helmets with 3 red visors that are shaped like insect eyes. Each of them also has a symbol on their chest armour: a black and red hexagon with a black hand print stamped within.

Nova starts to recollect all information and intelligence that she had remembered about the Brotherhood of Nod during her mission briefing, and she quickly recalls that these incoming infantries are Nod heavy flamethrowers, which in the Battle on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, had proven to be deadly against infantries. She knows that if these flamethrowers got her, she would be dead in seconds, even with the protection of her suit.

Acting quickly, she activates the cloaking device on her Crius suit, which holds a psi-augmenter dedicated for indefinite cloaking. With the activation of the cloaking device, Nova vanishes from plain sight, and quickly takes cover from behind a tree, waiting for the approaching Black Hands to get into sniping range. She lifts up her C20A canister rifle and quickly gets into a firing position. Using her own psionic radar, Nova picks up the position of the enemy heavy infantries and wait... waiting for them to come for their own deaths. When one of the Black Hands begin to enter within her sight, she starts to take aim...

The lead Black Hand has never seen it coming. He and his small squad were just making their routine patrol across the southwest forest when they saw the streak of light crashing down into the small hill nearby. On a closer look, they realised that the streak of light was actually one of those wretched Dominion Drop Pods, which could only mean one thing: enemy unit sighted! The Black Hand squad quickly rushed towards the crash site, intending to toast the intruder alive with their Purifier flamethrowers. However, once the crashed Drop Pod was within their sight, they found the hatch opened... with no one inside. Then, before they could realise what is going on, the lead Black Hand falls to the ground dead; with a single shot being put through the mid visor in his head.

The rest of the squad quickly gets into a state of high alert, well aware that a sniper in somewhere in the vicinity. However, finding themselves alone inside the forest, without a detector support, they find themselves nothing more as sitting ducks for the mysterious sniper that is targeting them. Before long, all of them drop down dead; sniped through the head one by one before anyone of them can escape.

"All targets eliminated... advancing towards target destination." Nova reports as she begins to make her advance through the forest.

* * *

(Back inside Bhekar Ro Main Broadcast Station...)

"Sir; patrols have reported a few single Dominion Drop Pods scattered around the area! We've also lost contact with a number of patrol teams that are combing the forests surrounding the base! So far, 9 teams have failed to report back to us! Raider scouts had reported no signs of enemy presence, so we have no idea what is going on! What's your next instruction, archdeacon?" a High Confessor asks Ricardo.

Ricardo analyses the situation; from what he has heard about the presence of Dominion Drop Pods around the vicinity, he instantly knows that Dominion forces must have infiltrated deep into the region. Now he just needs to know what kind of Dominion units he is dealing with.

"About the Drop Pods; did you find them in singles or in a group?" the archdeacon asks.

"Other than the 3 clustered ones we found crashed in the east forest, all of them were discovered in singles." the High Confessor replies.

"Then it's obvious what we are now dealing with," Ricardo states, "we got Dominion Ghosts crawling around us! Only Ghosts work in small groups like these and that probably explains the missing patrols; they are the Dominion's deadliest assassins that can hide their presence as well as our Shadows. Normal patrols will not be able to find them; we need Venoms or Attack Bikes to root them out! Contact all units: we had suspected Ghost activity in the forest... send in special patrols to find and destroy them before they can cause serious damage to our base! Ensure all perimeter turrets to be fully functional with sensors active!"

"Yes, archdeacon!"

"You there..." Ricardo points to a nearby chief technician who is monitoring the status of all of a certain type of structure in the entire base, which in his case... the specially modified disruption field generator, "are the disruption fields activated?" the archdeacon asks.

"Yes, archdeacon! Generators are fully active and the fields have covered the entire region. The entire base would be safe!" the chief technician replies.

"Excellent, then we'll just need to relax and find the Ghosts quickly before they become too much of an annoyance!"

Just as Archdeacon Ricardo is assuring to his subordinates that the Ghost threat would be dealt with, an officer suddenly rushes into the command room in a hurry and reports frantically to the archdeacon, "Archdeacon sir; our sensors had picked up a large Dominion forces building up a base about 30 miles to our north!"

"I see... ignore them! The Commander had told us not to engage the enemy forces directly! We'll only strike when they tried to approach the base!"

"Are you suggesting a defensive battleplan, archdeacon sir? But what about that base?" the same officer asks.

"The Commander already had everything planned out; we'll deal with that base only after the Commander's trap has been sprung." Ricardo replies,

"Excuse me, archdeacon sir, but what trap is the Commander referring to?" the officer asks again.

"That's a top secret that doesn't concern you, young disciple! Are you questioning the Commander and my intelligence?" Ricardo asks in a threatening tone. Like many high ranking members in the Order of the Black Hand, Ricardo hates underlings questioning his decisions.

"No! Certainly not, sir! I... I'll immediately return back to my post and relay your orders, archdeacon sir!" the officer replies frantically, fearing for his life.

"If you have finally understood what I've just said, then get out there and relay my orders... NOW! The same goes for the rest of you!"

"YES, ARCHDEACON!" a chorus of affirmative replies sounds across the entire command room, as the officers immediately get back to their work in relaying the appropriate orders to the units present in the base.

* * *

(Somewhere in the forest less than 2 miles southwest of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

Agent Nova scans around her surrounding with her canister rifle up as she cautiously treks across the forest. She has already sniped and eliminated 3 enemy infantry patrol squads as she makes her way towards her target destination. Then, just a few minutes ago, she was about to eliminate another infantry patrol when she noticed her sniping target seemingly received some kind of retreat order, which the target obeyed. By clearing her mind and using her psionic radar, she did confirm that the enemy patrols appeared to be on the run. For the elite Ghost, this could have meant that either there is something happening back in the enemy base, or the enemy is aware that a Ghost is present in the vicinity and knows that regular infantries are no match to a Ghost regardless of the numbers. With the enemy on the run, Nova knows that now the path is cleared for her to proceed to her target destination without any interference. However, she also knows that if the enemy has chosen to pull back the infantry patrols due to the latter reason, then she must hurry; it would be any moment when a more dangerous patrol, such as those comprised of detecting scout fighters, start to show up.

After several minutes of trekking, Nova begins to see an open area with a road ahead. As she moves in closer, she can see that she is about to step out of the forest and head towards a wide open stretch of abandoned farmland, which is now a barren wasteland with no vegetation. On a closer look, the wasteland seems to be unusually dry and appears as if it has just recently undergone heavy strip-mining, shown by lots of vein-like scars scattered across the landscape.

Nova approaches towards the side of the road slowly and cautiously. With her spec ops goggles and psionic radar on, she scans for any presence of enemy units around. Even with her cloaking on, she has to be more careful when she is out in an open terrain.

With the confirmation that there is no enemy presence around, Nova reaches out for her communicator, "_bzzz_... This Agent Nova to _Mjolnir_ control; I have left the confines of the forest and has reached the road. Requesting for further scans of the terrain ahead!"

After a few seconds, the blonde Ghost receives a reply, _"Nova; we have scanned the area and the path ahead of you that will lead you to your target. If you follow that road and head towards your north, you should be able to reach to the target in no time. The base is cloaked, but with your psionic radar, you should be able to visualise the base by now..."_

To confirm Colonel Yamada's words, Nova focuses her mind and uses her psionic radar while looking towards the end of the road towards her north. Soon enough, she begins to 'feel' the presence of multiple structures and units about one and a half mile ahead.

"Yes, I see the base now! I also have visual confirmation of the target!" Nova replies, referring to a large structure with a large radar dish and long range communication antenna attached. Intelligence had already confirmed that the structure was the source of the transmission that carried the bald leader of the Brotherhood of Nod's propaganda that had hacked into UNN news channel.

_"Good! That is the broadcast station where you should commence your mission for Emperor Mengsk. I must warn you, however, that the Nod forces had been alerted by you and the other Ghosts' presence. We had detected an overall change of Nod patrol shifts, with Nod bikes and scout fighters being the dominant units among the new shifts of Nod patrols. We already knew that these light units are Nod's primary detectors and they are deployed mainly to find and destroy all of you! I'll be sending in Marines reinforcements to pick off the light patrols."_

"Just Marines? Is that even enough to take out those bikes and fighters?" Nova asks, intrigued that Colonel Yamada would choose to use the lowly Marines to handle some Nod vehicles and aircrafts.

_"Yes, they are more than enough! Observations of these Nod units during combat had suggested that while these units are fast, agile detectors that launch rocket weapons which are effective against aircrafts and armour, they are less effective against light infantries. The armour of these units are also very light, so light that concentrated fire from several gauss rifles is enough to destroy one of these units in a few seconds." _the Nova Squadron commander explains.

"Alright! We'll do as you say! Send in the boys to deal with those patrols!"

_"Reinforcements are on their way... and be careful, Nova, we've picked up several Nod fighters heading your way! Get into the forest and hide there until the fighters have made their pass. Do not get yourself within their range!"_

"Understood, sir! Nova out!"

After ending her transmission, Nova quickly scurries back into the forest and observes the sky ahead. Soon enough, she makes a glimpse of 6 Nod fighters hovering across the sky. The elite Ghost quickly scurries deeper into the forest, ensuring that she is not standing in front of the enemy fighters, keeping herself mainly at the sides where the scanner range is shorter. The blonde Ghost remains vigilant, raising up her canister rifle and ready to fire at the Nod fighters if she is about to get discovered.

Fortunately for Nova, the Venoms only linger around the area for a few seconds, before deciding that this area is clear. The Venom patrols quickly turn to the opposite direction start to search further up north, increasing their distance away from a Ghost agent just a few metres away from their scanner range. With the Nod fighters gone, Nova breathes out a sigh of relief.

After the close shave with the Nod Venoms, Nova resumes her trek along the road towards the Nod base. A few minutes later, however, her psionic radar picks up another set of signals heading towards her way... and fast.

Using her spec ops goggles, Nova gazes towards her front, where the signals are originating from. Soon enough, she spots a pack of 4 Attack Bikes heading towards her direction.

"_bzzzt..._Sir; I got Nod bikes heading towards my way. If they continue on their path, they will reach and spot me in no time. Requesting immediate assistance!" the blonde Ghost calls back to her HQ asking for help, knowing that those approaching Nod bikes are detectors that can detect and spot her despite her cloaking.

_"bzzzt... Don't worry Nova, we are aware of the Nod bikes approaching your direction. Earlier, I had sent down a brigade from our squadron's 1st Armour Division. I had given orders to them to deploy in the forest along the road that leads to the Nod base. They had just reported that they had just arrived at their positions and had begun deploying their Siege Tanks into firing position. They will be clearing out the bikes in no time." _Colonel Yamada replies.

* * *

(A mile away from the road... inside the southwest forest...)

A brigade of 4 Crucio Siege Tanks from the Nova Squadron 1st Armour Division had just touched down onto a small clearing in the forest, dropping down onto the spot by 2 Medivac Dropships. 2 Vikings hover the sky above the Siege Tanks, on a wary lookout for enemy presence.

Inside the lead Crucio Siege Tank, the tank commander had just received the coordinates of their targets, relayed by the squadron's commander on board of _Mjolonir_. After confirming his targets, the tank commander of the lead Siege Tank contacts the rest of his brigade mates, "Alright boys... I'd just received the coordinates of the targets from our commander... so let's prepare to blast those bastards back to the stone age and get out of here before any of those burrowing things catch us off-guard! Let's do this, boys!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

With affirmation to their leader's words, all the Siege Tanks immediately spring into action as soon as they get into position. Once they have driven their tanks to their assigned positions, the Siege Tanks proceed to transform from tank mode into siege mode; deploying stabilising stands, spreading their threads far apart into 4 corners for better stability, and converting their twin 90mm plasma cannon turret into a single 180mm plasma shock cannon turret. Within a few seconds after their transformation, the Siege Tanks swivel their turrets and aim their cannons towards the targets about a mile away from their current location... and fire!

* * *

(About a mile away... along the road...)

A pack of 4 Nod Attack Bikes are speeding along the highway road, patrolling the area perimeter around Base 10 in a high alert lookout for cloaking Dominion units, mainly looking out for Dominion Ghosts. They have been briefed by their superiors before that Dominion Ghosts tend to work alone or in small groups, relying mainly on their stealth as their protection. Hence the best way to root out a Ghost lurking in the shadows is to deploy a small group of fast moving detecting units to catch them off-guard, and destroy them quickly before they can escape or call in for reinforcements. This is why the small pack of Attack Bikes have never expected to encounter any heavy fire during their patrol.

That is mostly true for this patrol as well... until the Attack Bikes find themselves under a heavy artillery barrage. One of the bikes has been caught in the initial blasts, reduced into smithereens in an instant. A second one gets itself hit by a direct plasma shell by the following wave of explosions, breaking apart into unrecognisable pieces. Knowing that they are under attack by Siege Tanks around here somewhere, the surviving 2 Attack Bikes turn tail and proceed to return back to base; they are aware that they are no match against heavily armoured Siege Tanks without any forms of support. As they try to escape, they come under repetitive fire from the Siege Tanks again. The 2 Attack Bikes swerve and dodge as they speed back to base, trying to avoid getting blasted into oblivion by the Siege Tanks hiding around here somewhere. In the end, one manages to get away from the Siege Tank's firing range and returns home safely; the other is not so lucky.

* * *

(Back to Nova...)

Nova emerges from her hiding spot; knowing that she is safe to come out again after witnessing the Attack Bikes getting obliterated by the Siege Tanks. However, just as she is about to resume her journey, her heightened senses have picked up incoming enemies; it is those Nod fighters again, and this time they are back, most probably alerted by the destruction of the Attack Bikes.

"_bzzz... _Sir; the Nod bike patrols have been confirmed: neutralised; but the Nod fighter patrols are coming back again... wait... they are splitting up... 3 are still flying along their patrol route... while the other 3 are heading towards the Siege Tanks!"

"_bzzz... Understood, Nova! Reinforcements are now en-route!"_ Colonel Yamada assures.

Soon enough, Nova can see 8 Drop Pods heading towards her direction. She quickly dodge to a side, allowing the Drop Pods to have a clear landing. After the pods have touched down, their hatches are kicked open, revealing 8 Marines.

One of the Marines, probably the leader of the squad approaches and greets the Ghost, "Ma'am... this is Nova Squadron 1st Infantry Division 2nd Company 3rd Platoon 4th Squad; I am Sgt. Krum, reporting for duty, ma'am!"

"At ease, sergeant! I believe you and your boys should know what to do, am I right?" Nova questions the Marine.

"Yes, ma'am! We are to neutralise all threats of Nod detectors that will impede along your way in your mission, ma'am!" the Marine replies.

"Good! Because right now, you're going to get busy; we've got 3 Nod fighters heading towards our way. In a few seconds time, they will spot us... and most importantly, spot me. You know your drills..."

"Got it, ma'am!"

The 8 Marines step forward and hoist up their C-14 gauss rifles, all ready to take aim. True to Nova's words, the Marines spot the 3 incoming Venoms just seconds after the briefing. With their targets in their sight, the Marines open fire. 8mm depleted uranium spikes shower upon the Venoms, making countless numbers of tiny penetration holes in the Venoms' fuselage. In an instant, the lead Venom explodes in the sky when one of its fuel tank gets ignited by sparks caused by intense pounding of the Venom's fuselage by the spikes.

Aware of getting attacked, the other 2 Venoms try to retaliate by raining rockets upon the Marines. In response to the rocket fire, the Marines roll out of their original positions and squat down to keep a lower profile, while resuming their aim and fire upon the Venoms. Seconds later, a 2nd Venom careens out of control when a single spike penetrates through the cockpit and strikes into the head of the Venom pilot. The 3rd Venom suffers a similar fate as the 1st one.

With the Venoms destroyed, Sgt. Krum reports, "All hostiles eliminated, you may resume your mission, ma'am. We'll be staying around here to assist you anytime."

"Thanks a lot, boys! I need you to watch my back as I carry out my mission."

* * *

(Back to 1st Armour Division...)

The Venoms that are heading to the forest to root out the Siege Tanks have suffered the same fate as their squad mates before they split off. They have decided to break off from their patrol route in order to search for the Siege Tanks that have destroyed the Attack Bike patrol. However, they soon find 8 streaks of light ahead of them. As they look closer, they realise that these streaks of light are actually Dominion Drop Pods; meaning that they have just gotten in the way of Dominion reinforcements. Unfortunately for the Venoms, the reinforcements turn out to be 8 Marines, which have packed enough firepower to shoot all of them down. They try to retaliate, but find it frustrating that their rocket ammunitions are not as effective against enemy light infantries as against enemy aircrafts. In the end, the 1st Armour Division Siege Tanks are safe, with nothing to fear from the downed Venoms.

* * *

(Minutes later... back to Nova...)

Nova resumes her march along the road towards the Nod base where her target, the main broadcast station, is located in. A few metres behind her, a squad of 8 Marines is following the elite Ghost closely; all ready to defend and support the Ghost if something as meddlesome as Nod scout fighter patrol should turn up. Fortunately, after the previous encounter with the trio of Venoms, there are currently no further encounters with Nod units.

Just then, Nova stops right in her track, while lifting her right hand up to signify the Marines following behind her to stop as well. Seeing the hand sign of the Ghost, the Marines all follow suit.

"Alright boys, we're now reaching towards the enemy base perimeter. One more step and we might get ourselves within the firing range of their cloaked turrets. Stay where you are right now and don't move; I'm going to call back to the command for further assistance. I want you all to watch my back when I'm making the call." Nova orders, in which all the Marines nod in agreement.

* * *

(_Mjolnir _control bridge... High Orbit above Bhekar Ro...)

Colonel Akira Yamada is looking over the battlefield minimap of the area where the main broadcast station on Bhekar Ro is located in. Although the Nod base holding the broadcast station is fully cloaked, multiple scanner sweeps made across the area had recently mapped out the entire layout of the Nod base.

Right now, Akira is examining the layout of the Nod base, looking for any gaps in the impressive wall of defences that is guarding the base. After minutes of examining the Nod base layout, the Nova Squadron commander makes a few conclusions on how he would assist Nova in infiltrating the base. The first choice is to deploy Siege Tanks to bombard the perimeter base defences in siege mode, since there are too many turrets surrounding the base, making attempts to sneak in undetected to be impossible. However, the enemy units, in which the numbers are still unclear to the commander due to enemy cloaking, may quickly respond and take out the Siege Tanks before they can escape. The second choice is to send in a flight of AH/G 24 Banshees to clear up all Nod's ground defences so that Nova can safely make her way in. However, this plan is also not a good idea because of the presence of Nod fighters and anti-air turrets, which have proven time to time as formidable aircraft killers that can take out any aircrafts in an instant, even to the stealthy Banshees. That leaves Akira with the final option: Nukes!

With his decision made, Akira immediately contacts Nova and a few other Ghosts lurking in the area, "All Ghosts in the area; I will be assigning targets to be marked to each of you... you are all clear to direct Nukes to the Nod forces!"

* * *

(Back to Nova...)

The beautiful blonde Ghost smirks in satisfaction when she has been given the clearance to mark the Nod enemies for a nuclear missile launch. After having numerous run-ins with the Nod forces, Nova is beginning to get tired with facing meagre resistance from the Nod fodders, which are slowing her down. After having the Nod base in her sight, the star Ghost is hoping to end all resistance once and for all with a few Nukes. Now, it seems that her wish is granted.

Nova hoists up her C20A canister rifle and starts to take aim with the attached laser target marker. The star Ghost is now aiming a spot right in the middle of a base entrance, where there is a large cluster of Nod turrets and units. With the target spot marked, Nova is now standing still, trying to transmit the coordinates of the marked target spot back to command. All she needs to do is to keep still for 10 to 15 seconds, hoping that no enemy has spotted her, and get out before an Apocalypse-class nuclear missile hits the mark.

The Ghost aims and waits patiently, waiting for the signal to confirm that the target spot has been successfully locked on by the Nuke. As Nova remains still, waiting... and waiting... until she realises something is seriously wrong.

"_bzzz..._This is Nova to _Mjolnir_ command; something's wrong! I can't seem to transmit the signal back to the Nukes!"

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolonir_ control bridge...)

Akira frowns when he receives words from Nova that an attempt in directing a Nuke to the Nod base has mysteriously failed. Worse still, the Nova Squadron commander has been informed earlier by other Ghost agents about the same predicament; all attempts to direct a nuclear launch against the Brotherhood of Nod have been unsuccessful. For some unknown reasons, the Ghosts are unable to transmit the target coordinates back to the Nukes housed on Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform.

The Japanese commander starts to re-examine the Nod base layout as shown in the minimap of the area, looking for any clues that might cause all attempts to launch nuclear strikes to fail.

'This is weird... all Ghosts have reported that they are unable to transmit the coordinates back to the Nukes. It is as if there is something disrupting the transmission...'

Decided to find an answer for his suspicion, Akira orders the on board adjutant to conduct a scan across the Nod base to search for any for any forms of jamming devices in the area. Soon enough, he receives a reply,

"AFFIRMATIVE! SCANS HAVE DETECTED ENERGY FIELDS THAT APPEARS TO HAVE SIGNAL DISRUPTION FUNCTIONS. THESE ENERGY FIELDS HAVE BEEN EMITTED BY THESE GENERATORS, WHICH ARE SCATTERED ALL ACROSS THE ENTIRE BASE. SCANS ON ALL OTHER NOD BASES ON THE PLANET HAVE CONFIRMED SIMILAR GENERATORS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED. AS LONG AS THE NOD FORCES CAN KEEP THESE DISRUPTION FIELDS UP, OUR GHOSTS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSMIT TARGET COORDINATES TO THE NUCLEAR MISSILES..."

Upon hearing the adjutant's analysis, Akira nods his head in confirmation of his suspicion. He can safely conclude that as long as these generators are still up, Nukes will be out of question.

'Looks like I have no choice but to ask the Delta Squadron for assistance. The Delta Squadron 2nd Division had recently set up a base about 30 miles north of the Nod base where Nova is heading. It is a bit far, but that is the best source of help I can ask for...'

However, before Akira has made up his mind to contact Colonel Thompson, he receives several alarms from the adjutant,

"WARNING! ENEMY UNITS SIGHTED! BURROWING UNITS DETECTED!"

When Akira checks the battlefield minimap, he is horrified that the Nod forces have sent out patrols again; this time they are heading straight towards all his Ghosts, who are scattered across the area... easy single targets to be picked out.

Fearing the worst, the Nova Squadron commander immediately issues a warning to each and every Ghost in that area, "This is _Mjolnir _command to all Ghosts in the field; enemy patrols are back and they are now all heading towards each and every one of you! Since we can't nuke the enemy, I want all of you to fall back right now... I repeat... fall back right now!"

Suddenly, the adjutant issues out another warning,

"WARNING: MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTED FROM NOD BASE... _BOOOOMM_... WARNING: RADAR FUNCTION DISRUPTED... ATTEMPTING TO REESTABLISH CONNECTION TO OUR RADAR... STANDBY..."

"Dammit!" Akira curses when he finds out what has just happened; the enemy has launched some kind of missile that has knocked out their radar, possibly some kind of a radar jamming missile. Besides their radar, the radar jamming missile has also scrambled the communication lines within the Nova Squadron. With his battlefield minimap showing blank, Akira knows that unless they can restore the radar, his forces are now virtually fighting blindly. He hopes that all his Ghosts out there, including Nova, have heeded his warning and have retreated from the battlefield.

* * *

(East perimeter of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

"This is Agent Rossi calling to _Mjolnir_ command... can you please repeat your previous order... over!"

"_bzzzttt..._"

"I repeat; this is Agent Rossi calling to _Mjolnir _command... can you read me... over!"

"_bzzzttt..._"

A male Ghost lurking close to the eastern perimeter of Nod Base 10 is beginning to feel uneasy about the silence. A few seconds earlier, he received an emergency order back from the Nova Squadron flagship, but got cut off before he had received the full order. This means that he had not heard Colonel Yamada's order to retreat.

Suddenly, Agent Rossi's psionic senses detect approaching enemy presence. The Ghost looks up in the sky to find a flight of 4 Venoms flying straight towards him. Well aware that these Nod fighters are detectors, the Agent Rossi curses his luck for being discovered by enemy forces. Knowing that he himself is no match against 4 fighters, the Ghost makes a run for it. However, even his enhanced psionic senses have not warned him of a second threat lying ahead of him.

Suddenly, a Reckoner bursts out from beneath the underground, right in front of Agent Rossi with its drill tips just inches away from tearing the Ghost's body apart. The shockwave of the Reckoner's forced surfacing pushes Rossi off his feet, though the Ghost's psionically enhanced body and reflexes allow him to quickly regain his footing.

2 cyborgs quickly disembark as soon as the Reckoner has fully surfaced; their quadruped spindly legs and horn on their back identify them as Spider cyborgs. Rossi studies his opponents and recognise them as laser-firing cyborg infantries, which are effective against masses of units due to their spreading laser shots. Knowing that he will not be able to mind-control and persuade the enemy not to attack him (his psionic powers are not powerful enough to perform the feat and these enemies are AI-driven half man, half machine), and with Nod detectors high up in the air, Rossi is aware that he can only fight his way out. Not intending to let the cyborgs to finish him off, Rossi hoists up his C10 canister rifle with superhuman reflex, aiming and sniping at one of the cyborgs' head. After 2 shots, one of the Spider collapses onto the ground, rendered motionless by 2 fatal wounds to the machine-enhanced brain. However, before the Ghost can switch his target to the 2nd cyborg, he finds a strand of web being fired towards him. Rossi tries to dodge the web with his psionically enhanced speed and reflexes, but he is still a few seconds too late when the synthetic web envelopes around the Ghost.

Finding himself trapped inside the synthetic web, Rossi tries to force himself out with all his strength; but it ends in vain. He tries to reach out to grab his hidden combat knife, only to find his hands stuck to the extremely sticky web as well. While Rossi is struggling to free himself from the web, he sees a 3rd cyborg stepping out from the Reckoner. To his surprise, this 3rd cyborg is one kind that has not been mentioned in the Dominion's gathered intelligence; this cyborg is very heavily built in heavy red power armour and has a large throne-shaped generator on its back. This cyborg has not been seen in combat so far by the Dominion forces, making Rossi wonders if the Brotherhood of Nod is still hiding some secret weapons from them.

The emerged Cybernetic Commando no. 99 stares at the webbed Ghost through its green visor. Then, it speaks in a monotonous, but cold voice,

"SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS TERRAN GHOST... INPUTTING COMMAND... TERMINATE SUBJECT!"

The Cyborg Commando raises its right arm, which is armed with a rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon. The last thing Agent Rossi sees through his spec ops goggles is a shining red light in the hulking cyborg's right-hand cannon.

Elsewhere, several Ghosts have met similar ends. While some of them get terminated by combined firepower of Enlightened and Spiders, others get burnt to crisp by Black Hand mobs. A few of these Ghosts even get ambushed and assassinated by cloaked Shadow teams, which is ironic since Ghosts themselves are supposed to be experts in ambush and assassination.

* * *

(Back to Nova's team...)

BANG!

A Shadow Warrior collapses onto the ground... dead. Thanks to her heightened psionic senses, Nova is able to sense and detect the sneaking Nod Shadows through her psionic radar, despite the fact that the Shadows have cloaked themselves to avoid being seen in plain sight. Surrounding around the blonde Ghost are the corpses of an entire squad of Shadow Warriors that try to assassinate the high profile Ghost agent; and all of them have failed their mission with the price of their own lives.

The Marines escorting behind Nova, however, are not as lucky. Even though with the warnings provided by the powerful Ghost in front of them, the 4th Squad have difficulties in trying to shoot at their invisible enemies even with their special trainings in the Nova Squadron 1st Infantry Division. Before Nova can snipe off all the offending Shadows, half of the 4th Squad become assassinated victims of the fleet footed Nod soldiers. With only 5 of them left, including Nova herself, the team is on high alert.

"Damn! They'd hit us hard this time! There's only 5 of us left, ma'am, the communications are down and the Nukes don't seem to be coming... what is your orders, ma'am?" the lead Marine asks.

Nova ponders for a moment. With the communications back to HQ being cut off and the ability to launch a nuclear missile is now no longer an option, Nova knows that she and this squad of Marines are now left on their own. Just then, her psionic radar detects something approaching; something large and underground, probably one of those Nod burrowing transports. With the knowledge of the approaching Nod burrowing transport, Nova has thought up of a plan to try to commence her mission, but the method she is going to try will be too hazardous for these Marines to follow. It will be soon for them to part ways.

"We must fall back to the forest now! A Nod burrowing transport is approaching; and if we keep staying here, we'll be drilled! Now fall back!"

* * *

(Several seconds later...)

A Reckoner bursts through from beneath the soil and onto the road. Its occupants, comprising of 2 Black Hands, step out and survey the surroundings.

"Keep your eyes on a lookout, brother! Intel says that there should be a Ghost and at least 4 Marines around this vicinity. Do not let them jump on us!"

"Yes, brother!"

The 2 Black Hands march around the Reckoner, looking for signs of enemy presence. If intel suggests that a Ghost is present in this area, then they will have to keep sharp lookout for any signs of distorted images through their visors. Their Purifier flamethrowers are set to ready to purge any unclean ones they find. However, after about 10 minutes of searching, they cannot find anyone.

"Brother, it's too quiet out there. Either the enemies have left this area or they are too good in hiding. I suggest we should head back to transport as a precaution." One of the Black Hands suggests.

"I agree! Let's head back to the Reckoner."

The 2 Black Hands have left from the safety of the Reckoner earlier because they believe that they will have a better view of the surrounding when they step outside of the vehicle. However, when they are still unable to find their targets, the Black Hands realise they should have called in at least an Attack Bike or a Venom for detection support. If they are unable to visualise their enemies out there, they themselves will be targets instead of their enemies.

Just then, before they can step back right into the Reckoner, the in-built scanner in their helmets pick up 4 presences heading towards their direction.

"Heads up, brother, we got 4 hostiles inbound!"

"Must be the Marines! There's only 4 of them; we must purge them now!"

"No! The Ghost might be still out there and those Marines may be acting as baits. We better fall back into the Recknoner as a precaution!"

"Agreed!"

However, before the Black Hands can retreat back into the Reckoner, a rocket warhead flies straight towards the parking vehicle.

"Look out!"

The Black Hands jump to avoid the offending projectile. The rocket warhead slams itself onto the Reckoner's fuselage; but instead of an explosion, electromagnetic currents have been observed flowing through the vehicle. The Black Hands instantly realise what is going on.

"It's a lockdown device; the Ghost's still out there and we can't get in..."

BANG!

Without warning, one of the Black Hands fall to the ground face first, with a huge gunshot wound right in the middle of the fallen Black Hand's chest.

The last remaining Black Hand instantly knows that he is in grave danger; and most likely he will not survive this battle. Still, even though he is aware of his inevitable doom under the hands of that vile Ghost, he will not fall in this battle without taking as much enemies as possible.

"Purge the unclean!"

The enraged Black Hand decides to focus all his wrath towards the 4 approaching Marines with his Purifier flamethrower blazing. He charges towards the Marines and lets loose his flames. Noticing the enemy's charge, the 4th Squad instantly reacts by firing at the lone Black Hand with their C-14 gauss rifles while slowly taking their steps back; well aware of what the flamethrower is capable of. Depleted uranium spikes pound mercilessly onto the Black Hand's heavy power suit, with some spikes already penetrated through the armour and wounding the mighty Nod soldier. Still, despite his wounds, the Black Hand pushes on while lighting up his Purifier. One of the Marines has not kept himself far enough from the flames; and ends up ablaze, running and rolling on the ground desperately to put out the flames while screaming in pain before his gruesome death.

Witnessing the brutal end of another one of their squad mates, the remaining 3 Marines decide not to take any chance. Activating their stim-packs, the Marines fire back at the rampaging Black Hand with ruthless aggression. Still, it does not stop the vengeful Black Hand from making his approach even as he receives more and more of these serious wounds. The Black Hand steps closer and closer... until...

BANG!

A sniper round penetrates the fuel tank carried behind the Black Hand's back, igniting it into a big, fiery explosion. The Black Hand is thrown forward by the sudden explosion and lands hard onto the ground... not moving. The lead Marine decides to approach the fallen Black Hand cautiously with his gauss rifle still up. After giving a few kicks to the charred body, then the team has finally confirmed the enemy is really dead.

"Thanks for the save, ma'am! We thought we're gonna be toast! What should we do about that locked down transport, ma'am?"

Nova looks at the stricken Reckoner, which is currently still affected by one of her E-11 lockdown device rounds, before answering, "I'll be using this vehicle for a ride to get in deep into the enemy base. If possible, I will simply smash it right into the target building's basement. Where I'll be going will be too hazardous for you boys, and you will be more of a burden to me rather than an asset. So right now, I want you to take cover back in the forest for a moment and wait for reinforcements to pick you boys up. I will be working solo from now on."

"Very well, ma'am! We wish you good luck for your mission! It is a pleasure to work beside you in this mission!"

* * *

(Half an hour later...)

The Reckoner burrows back into the underground, this time heading towards the Nod base with a new driver on board.

After killing the driver inside the locked down Reckoner, Nova manages to find an instruction manual on how to operate this vehicle, in which the enemy seems to call it as a 'Reckoner'. So, after reading from the manual and test-driving it till she feels comfortable with the vehicle, Nova is ready to start her own plan on infiltrating the enemy base through a way which the enemy may not have expected: underground!

The Ghost is well aware that the enemy forces must have understood a lot of the Dominion's tactics and strategies in order for them to know how to counter them accordingly and bring in the destruction of the Omega Squadron on Mar Sara. Hence she knows that if she wants to sneak into the enemy base, the only available option left is through a hijacked enemy vehicle; and the ability of this vehicle to transverse underground is a bonus.

Thanks to a subterranean map layout of the Nod Base 10 installed in the Reckoner's navigation system, Nova knows exactly where she needs to drive the vehicle. Now she just hopes that the enemy do not have underground defences as well.

* * *

(A few miles away near Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10 North Entrance...)

A column of Crucio-class Siege Tanks, escorted by squads of Marines and Marauders and a flight of Ravens overhead, is closely approaching towards the northern entrance of Base 10. These belong to the Delta Squadron 2nd Armour Division; and their mission is to soften up the enemy perimeter defence before the main force, comprising of a massive numbers of infantries and Medivac Dropships from the 2nd Infantry Division, can arrive to clean up all remaining resistance.

Earlier, the Delta Squadron had heard about how attempts by Nova Squadron Ghosts to nuke the Nod forces have failed miserably due to some kind of disruption devices set up by the Nod forces across the entire region. Without the use of Nukes to reduce enemy numbers, the tiny Nova Squadron has no means to smash through the heavy Nod defences. Hence they had requested the larger Delta Squadron for assistance.

As the armour column pushes through the forest, the Dominion units destroy some occasional Nod patrols that get within their shooting range. Confident with their heavy armour, the Siege Tanks cruise through the forest unopposed. In just a few more minute, they will reach their furthest possible firing range of their siege mode against the outermost Nod structures.

Just then, the Ravens hovering above the armour column detects presence of several infantries approaching; surprisingly from the skies. 8 Shadow Warriors, all in glider mode, are heading towards the Dominion armour column, hoping to ambush the tanks and their infantry escorts using their cloaking abilities. Unfortunately, their element of surprise has been ruined.

With the thermal images of the approaching Shadows transmitted into their visors, the Marine escorts open fire into the sky, trying to shoot down the airborne assassins. Unable to fire back as they need to their both arms to steer their gliders, the Shadows have no choice but to make a hasty retreat before those spikes tear their gliders apart.

Although the Shadows have retreated, they have learnt the presence of an enemy armour column approaching towards the northern entrance of their base. They have to warn their commander, fast before these Siege Tanks tear open a hole in their base defences.

* * *

(Back inside Bhekar Ro Main Broadcast Station...)

"Sir; Shadow Team 8 and 9 have reported a Siege Tank column approaching towards the northern entrance. We believe that the Delta Squadron is trying to destroy our defences from afar using their Siege Tanks." An officer reports.

Archdeacon Ricardo remains calm and collected despite learning that a column of tanks/artilleries is fast approaching towards his base. Knowing that there are Marines, Marauders and Ravens escorting the Siege Tanks, it will be difficult to intercept and destroy these tanks before they can start to bombard their base defences in their siege mode. He does not have enough Cobras or Vertigos to destroy that ground forces, and Venoms are simply too fragile in front of those Marines. With those Ravens flying around, it is not possible to send a stealth team or use a subterranean strike to catch them off guard. A frontal charge using cyborgs and tanks may work, but that will be too costly and will divert too many units to that spot, where they may be needed elsewhere to defend the base from enemy Ghost infiltration attempts. Now, Ricardo is left with one option.

"LEGION; prepare the obelisks... let's give them a warm welcome..."

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10... Northern Entrance...)

The Crucio Siege Tanks of Delta Squadron 2nd Armour Division come to a halt, as they begin to make preparations for transforming themselves into siege mode. The armour column has just arrived near the enemy base entrance and although the base is cloaked, thermal images transmitted by escorting Ravens have confirmed that the base is just a few distance ahead. If the base is not cloaked, they would already have the Nod structures in their sights.

The leading Marine escort signals his escort team of Marines and Marauders to halt, after the Siege Tanks have stopped advancing forward. This would have meant that they are close to the enemy base entrance and Siege Tanks are now making preparations to begin bombarding the Nod base defences with their 180mm plasma shock cannons. It will be the job as escorts to protect these tanks from ambushes that try to take on the tanks from the flanks or the rear. As for the base itself, leave it to the tanks.

So far, during their near 30 mile journey from their base camp to their current location, this armour column has yet to suffer from any losses. Although some of the Siege Tanks do sustain some minor damages to their fuselage, all of them are still in full-operational mode and still battle-ready.

Everything seems to be going on smoothly as the Siege Tanks begin to undergo their transformations from tank to artillery platform, when suddenly, the advanced sensors housed in the Ravens begin to detect something approaching. In seconds, the Ravens issue warnings to the others through their visors, stating, "WARNING: SEISMIC ACTIVITY DETECTED... NOD BURROWERS INBOUND..."

As soon as the warning come in, the infantry escorts tense up in the anticipation of a subterranean ambush, probably by one of those Nod scorpion-shaped tanks or driller-tipped armoured transport, or worst would be one of those massive metal drillers that would bring out a random infantry squad or a vehicle out onto the surface. However, none of these Dominion soldiers would anticipate the surprise that is coming up next.

Instead of surfacing up and drilling right into the current position of the armour column, 4 giant transport drills surface just several hundred metres away from the armour column and not too away from the northern entrance of Base 10. The drills open up not to release any Nod units, but to deploy some kind of a structure, which gets cloaked thanks to the cloaking field by the neighbouring Disruption Towers. Through the scanners of the Ravens, the 4 unfolded structures are rather tall, narrow-based towers shaped like an ancient obelisk with its tip hooked like a tail of a scorpion, giving it an appearance of a massive red-tipped black horn protruding from the ground. The Dominion units stare at the 4 new towers at awe, which are arranged along the outer perimeter of the Nod base entrance, giving them the appearance as some kind of gate guardians.

"What the heck are those things?" one of the Marine private asks.

"How do I know?" a Marauder replies.

Just then, another warning is issued from the Ravens through the escorts' visors, stating, "WARNING: HIGH LEVELS OF ENERGY INFLUX DETECTED FROM THE NEW TOWERS..."

At the same time, a loud, but low hum begins to resonate across the area; and through the Ravens' sensors view, the red tips of the towers begin to glow ominously. Then, they strike...

4 streaks of red laser beams slice across the armour column, instantly cutting down half of all the infantries and a third of all Siege Tanks in a single shot. The Siege Tanks that get caught in the line of fire of the lasers are cleanly sliced into separate parts, before exploding into unrecognisable pieces.

"What... what the HELL is that!" the same private who has asked earlier exclaims in shock, due to the scale of destruction caused by the newly arrived towers.

"Those things just cut a Siege Tank into half!" another private exclaims.

"Dammit! All units, concentrate your fire onto those towers!" the lead Marine orders.

The Dominion units of the 2nd Armour Division quickly overcome their shock and fire relentlessly at the towers. The Ravens launch Seeker missiles and drop Auto-Turrets to support the ground units. The Marines and Marauders even activate their stim-packs, shooting at the Nod towers at a much faster pace, hoping to take out those towers before they strike again. The Siege Tanks, which have now completed their transformations, fire their cannons onto the towers as well.

2 of the 4 Obelisks of Light have sustained heavy damage from the combined fire from the Dominion units, with reinforcement plating starting to chip off and the vulnerable circuits inside exposed. Still, that does not stop the obelisks from recharging themselves... making the same ominous hum earlier... and firing again...

Another 4 streaks of light and the armour column has their numbers cut by half again, including the Auto-Turrets. With only a few infantries and even fewer Siege Tanks remaining, the Dominion forces have been totally demoralised by the towers' sheer firepower. While the Siege Tanks and Ravens press on, the Marines and Marauders on the other hand, turn tail and run, not caring that they may be executed later for desertion from ranks.

"That's it! I ain't signing up for this shit!"

The Siege Tanks maintain their fire upon the most seriously damaged Obelisks of Light out of the 4, and manage to send it crushing onto the ground in pieces. However, before they can target at a 2nd one, the remaining 3 Obelisks fire again; this time eliminating all the remaining Siege Tanks.

Witnessing the destruction of the entire armour column, the Ravens try to scan and analyse the remaining 3 Nod towers, hoping to learn how they work and find out what are their weaknesses. However, before the Ravens can complete their scans, the Obelisks strike again. This time, each laser beam streak straight towards a single Raven each. 2 of them get cleanly sliced into 2 pieces before exploding in mid-air. Realising that these towers are capable of anti-air as well, the Ravens immediately make their retreat.

However, before they can escape, the advanced sensors of the surviving Ravens pick up the approach of several cloaked tanks. Without the protection of the Dominion infantries and Siege Tanks, a nearby squad of Nod Stealth Tanks decide to strike, launching volleys of Tiberium-core rockets towards the Dominion support crafts. Without sufficient energy remaining inside their Corvid reactors, the Ravens are unable to launch Seeker missiles or deploy Auto-Turrets or Point Defence Drones against the Stealth Tanks. In less than 10 seconds, all Ravens have crashed onto the ground, reduced into burning wreckages. With their targets eliminated, the Stealth Tanks retreat back into the forest again, ready to vanquish anymore others foolish enough to try to take on the Obelisks of Light up front.

* * *

(Bhekar Ro High Orbit... Temporary Delta Squadron Orbital Platform Forward Base HQ...)

"What... the hell... was THAT?" Colonel Gary Thompson asks in exclamation, totally shocked that a well armed Siege Tank armour column escorted with well prepared infantries and Ravens get eradicated by 4 bizarre-shaped towers in an instant. Never before in his life does the commander of Delta Squadron ever known a weapon other than a Nuke or Yamato Cannon would have such an intense firepower to reduce Siege Tanks into scrap metal within at most 2 shots; not even a Protoss walker would have this insane amount of firepower.

"Sir; are we going to resume attacks onto the Nod bases? Or are we going to wait for the Nova Squadron's Ghosts to do all the jobs for us?" an officer asks the stupefied commander.

Upon hearing the officer's words, Colonel Thompson is seriously considering the option to pull back his main attacking force. However, upon observing the thermal images of the Obelisks of Light again, Gary realises that one of the Obelisks had been destroyed while another was seriously damaged during combat. This has shown that these strange obelisks are not invincible and can still be brought down by conventional weapons, just like any other base defences. Sure they do have some serious firepower and can take on any ground or air unit, but if his forces can keep on pounding onto these defences, maybe these obelisks would still all fall eventually? Besides, Gary hates to think that he would have to rely onto a smaller squadron for help and lose out to a defector-commanded force.

"Of course not! Order the 2nd Division to resume their assaults against that base! I don't care how are they going to do it, even it is going to be an all-out assault, I want that base to become a pile smouldering ruins by the end of this day! Those towers may be powerful, but they still can be destroyed like all other turrets; if we can overwhelm them, there is nothing to fear about them!"

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

Like the Delta Squadron, the Nova Squadron had also learnt about the Nod obelisk-like defence structures that have recently started popping up in Nod bases all over Bhekar Ro. Watching the captured footages of these obelisks in action have resulted in a similar reaction for Colonel Akira Yamada like Colonel Gary Thompson's first time witnessing the obelisks' wrath against the Delta Squadron 2nd Division armour column: shock and awe.

From the limited intelligence gathered by a few Ravens that manage to survive their encounters against these obelisks, Akira has made several conclusions about the characteristics of these newly observed Nod defence structures.

The most striking feature of these Nod obelisks is their sheer firepower. Intel has shown that the power output of each shot from these obelisks is astronomically high, even higher than any energy weapon systems utilised by Protoss combat walkers. Each of these shots can easily slice through any infantry like a hot knife through butter, regardless whether they are lightly armoured Reapers or heavily armoured Marauders, or even heavily armoured vehicles like Crucio Siege Tanks in just one or two shots. While these obelisks seem to be unbeatable, Akira has noticed that these obelisks require a considerable cool down period before it can fire a second shot. This is explainable as the enormous power output released from the obelisk laser shot would definitely need time to concentrate first before being released, else the obelisk would have imploded by the immense level of stored energy if the energy is already present inside the obelisk in the first place. Also, each of these obelisks seems to draw their energy from outside source like other Nod defence turrets. If this is true, this would mean that each obelisk would probably need to draw a tremendous amount of power in order to charge up its weapon and function properly. If Akira can somehow get his agents to destroy the enemy power generating structures in their base, then they may probably be able to shut these obelisks down without facing their wrath.

The Nod obelisks appear to be more effective against ground troops compared to air units. Against ground troops, these obelisks would sweep their laser beams in a short arc to slice across ground unit formations (pretty much like how a Colossus attack). Against air, however, the obelisks are only capable of targeting one aerial unit at a time, though each attack will be highly accurate and precise. With this observation in mind, Akira makes a mental note that he would send in waves of Banshees against these obelisks the next time if he wants them out of his way.

And finally, Akira has observed that these obelisks are not very heavily armoured. They may have been shown to be durable against infantry assaults; against Siege Tank barrages, on the other hand, even these obelisks would crumble in seconds.

In all, Akira concludes that these obelisks have supreme range and firepower that can kill almost any ground unit in an instant, but are less efficient in shooting down aerial units and have light structure armour, slow recharge and heavy power consumption. A worthy threat that needs to be taken with extreme caution, but still can be taken down by conventional means.

"Sir; we've just re-established our communication lines." An officer reports, telling Akira that their forces have just recovered from a communication-jamming attack launched by the Nod forces.

"Good; can you make contact with Agent Nova?" Akira asks.

"Affirmative, sir, but for some reasons her signal is very fuzzy. We won't know when we'll lose contact with her again."

"Patch her in, now!"

"Yes sir!"

A few seconds later, both Nova and Akira are in the same transmission line.

"Nova; I'm glad that you are okay. Where's your current location?" the Nova Squadron commander asks.

"_bzz... bzzz... _Sir... _bzzz... bzzz... _right now... _bzzz... _I'm underground... _bzz... bzzz..._ inside one of this Nod... _bzz... _burrowing transport that I have just... _bzz... _hijacked earlier... _bzz... bzz... _I'm now heading directly towards the target... _bzz... bzzz... bzzzzzzz... _sir... I'm afraid that I'll be losing you soon due to the... _bzz... _bad connectivity... _bzzz... bzzz..._ once I've reached the target... _bzz... bzzz... _I'll try to contact you again... _bzz... bzzz... _Nova out... _bzz... bzzz... bzzzzzz..._..."

"Very well, good luck, Nova!"

After the transmission has terminated, the same officer asks, "Sir; what's our next orders?'

"Nothing; order all other agents to cease their operations for now and stay low. We currently don't have the countermeasures to face against those Nod bases if they have deployed defences with firepower of such tremendous magnitude. Right now, we must hope for the best that Agent Nova can accomplish her mission, and hopefully, disable the entire base from the inside-out and allow us to land a strike force to fully cripple that base of operation and extract her at the same time." Akira replies, confident with Nova's skills and experience as an elite Ghost who can probably pull out such a feat.

* * *

(Meanwhile... somewhere about 20 miles west of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

A rumble sounds across a small, forested hill, as a Spec Ops Dropship approaches to land its single passenger. The specially modified Dropship is installed with a simple cloaking generator and a sensor scrambler, designed to allow the Dropship to slip past Dominion blockade and land onto the besieged planet surface. The reason for the need to slip past through Dominion eyes is pretty simple; this Spec Ops Dropship belongs to James Raynor, and it bears the emblem of Raynor's Raiders.

After making a final check for any suspicious activities around, the Spec Ops Dropship makes its approach; hovering a small altitude above the small hill, before dropping a single passenger onto the hill. After dropping the single passenger, the Dropship makes its hasty retreat.

"This is Tosh here, mon; I have just made it into the warzone..." Gabriel Tosh makes his report as he briefly surveys around his surroundings.

"_Good to know you've made it, Tosh!"_ Raynor remarks from the other end of the communication channel, _"Now unfortunately we've lost the signal of the adjutant after the Noddies have brought it down, but we are pretty sure that it is somewhere around this region..."_

"I know what you mean, mon, I need to look for the clues myself, ain't it? Well it shouldn't be too difficult... just too bad that there ain't Noddies around here to tell me where the stolen treasure is... hold on a sec, bro..."

"_What is it, Tosh?"_

"I think I've sensed someone... or something coming close... real close... from underground. I guess I've found someone to ask for directions."

* * *

(A few minutes later...)

After a couple of EMP shots, and some additional lockdowns and AGR-48 rounds, a Reckoner is seen surfaced up; disabled and with its crew and passengers lying dead all around it. Gabriel calmly hops into the disabled Reckoner's cockpit, after he has learnt how to operate the Nod vehicle by forcefully reading the mind of the Reckoner pilot through his 'voodoo magic' before bursting his brain.

"Hey bro; I've just got myself a nice ride. I think I'll just drive this new baby right into their hideout and get the thing you want in an instant." The white-eyed Spectre informs to the other end of the communication line.

"_Glad to hear that, Tosh, but still... do you know where the adjutant is hidden in?" _Jim asks from the _Hyperion _control bridge.

Gabriel does not answer the rebel leader's question immediately. Instead, he is busy trying to reactivate the disabled Reckoner, which he succeeds after hotwiring the Nod vehicle for a minute. The Spectre then examines the map layout of the Nod installations in the region through the vehicle's navigation system, looking for any clues of the adjutant. Sadly, there is none.

"Yo... sadly I can't seem to know where the Noddies have hidden the adjutant. They have too many installations around this area; and the Noddies I'd came across ain't too helpful in anyway. I guess the only path I can take is to go looking for it house by house."

"_What... but that's too dangerous! Pull back now, Tosh! We'll figure out another way later. You're going to risk the entire operation if the Noddies know you are here!"_ Jim frantically calls Gabriel to forget about his reckless decision, with little avail.

"You got so little confidence in me, mon? You've hurt me, bro! Don't worry bro, I know what to do. I ain't dodging Mengsk's men for years just by fluke. I'd give you my word that I would help you to get that info back at all costs... and I intend to keep it. Just trust me... all I need you bro... is to think how you are going to keep yours." Gabriel assures.

"_But... humph... alright then... you can go ahead. I'll trust you in this one, but do be careful! If you need help, don't hesitate to call us. Isn't that what partners are for?"_

"Yeah... indeed... as partners. Alright, mon, I'm now going to go digging right into the Noddies' basement, and I'll won't be able to call back during that time being. I think I'll first try this big station in... this Base no. 10."

"_Understood! I trust you to be able to carry out this mission all by yourself. When you get the data, call us, and we'll get you out as fast as we can."_

"No problem, bro... Tosh out!"

With the end of the transmission between Tosh and Raynor, the Spectre leader closes up the cockpit of the stolen Reckoner. With the Tiberium core engine revved up and running, the hijacked Reckoner drills itself into the underground; with an unauthorised driver operating it.

* * *

(Meanwhile, Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10... Main Broadcast Station... Level B6 Section 7B...)

Siren is blaring across the entire compound, warning of a looming threat that is about to surface.

Just a few seconds ago, LEGION has confirmed that one Reckoner had been recently captured and piloted by a Ghost agent. The Nod AI has predicted that the Ghost is most likely going to use the hijacked subterranean vehicle to burst into the basement of the main broadcast station through underground, where the base defences are unable to intercept it. While most Nod structures are protected with reinforced below-ground foundations as protection against possible Zerg subterranean strikes from Zerg Nydus networks, this broadcast station, which has already been present before the Brotherhood has moved in into the planet, does not have this protection. This means that if the Reckoner is to burst through the basement walls through the underground, it will succeed.

Multiple infantries begin to scramble, arriving at the Level B6 Section 7B, where LEGION had predicted the most likely spot the hijacked Reckoner is going to hit if it is still following its current path. Hordes of Nod Marines, Devouts, Enlightened, Spiders, Black Hands, and even a couple of Militant volunteer guards and Confessors, are all ready and poised to strike. Now, they just need to wait for the offending Reckoner to show itself.

Soon enough, a loud rumbling noise begins to echo across the entire chamber, signifying that the stolen subterranean vehicle is close... very close. Then, the Reckoner bursts through the wall, igniting blinding sparks as the hull of the vehicle scrapes across the damaged wall. The screeching sound of grinding metal flinches the less equipped Militant volunteers, causing a few of them to be unable to react in time to get away from the rampaging Reckoner, ending up minced by the offending drill tip. The other Nod infantries, however, are not affected by sparks or the noise. With professional efficiency, they immediately focus fire upon the Reckoner. In less than 10 seconds, the Reckoner blows up, after being struck by a 70mm Centurion cannon shot into its Tiberium-core engine.

However, unknown to the horde of Nod infantries, this Reckoner is just a decoy. Just a few metres away, inside the tunnel made by the burrowing Reckoner before it hits into the compound walls, Nova is perfectly safe and unharmed. Before the Reckoner hits the wall, she has set the vehicle to auto-pilot and bails out. With the opposition force within her sight, the elite Ghost quickly plans for a counterattack.

Turning on her cloak, Nova charges into the hole made by the Reckoner earlier silently while the Nod infantries are still examining the Reckoner wreckage. She quickly tosses a fragmentation grenade right into the middle of the infantry mass; only just seconds before the grenade is about to blow. Before the Nod soldiers can react, the grenade explodes, releasing shards at high velocity, killing them en masse. Nova then switches from her trusty C20A canister rifle to a more rapid-firing AGR-14 assault gauss rifle. With pin-point accuracy, she fires her rifle at the unsuspecting Nod infantries, killing several of them with the first volley. The survivors, mainly the tougher cyborgs and the more combat experienced Confessors and Black Hands, frantically try to locate the hidden Ghost. Unfortunately for them, with the explosion of the Reckoner frying up the detector cameras in the room, there is no way the surviving Nod infantries can find the silent killer.

A minute later, the chamber is filled with bodies of dead Nod infantries, all riddled with holes by fragmentation grenade shards or AGR-14 assault gauss rifle rounds. A few Confessors and Black Hands manage to get out of the chamber before they join as part of the casualties. Still, the section is now temporarily cleared for the Ghost.

"Target infiltration success, beginning mission..." Nova states as she records down her progress.

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Ghost and Spectre

Nova is now inside the main broadcast station and is ready to search for information about the Brotherhood of Nod itself. Meanwhile, Tosh is still searching for the missing adjutant, not knowing that he is heading straight towards the same place as his pursuer.

* * *

My Nod Structure List

**Obelisk of Light: **The most dreaded Nod base defence of all time, the latest generation of Obelisk of Light is able to wipe out lines of enemy ground units by sweeping its powerful laser beam across the ground surface from a long range in the same manner as the TW3 Obelisk or like a Protoss Colossus. Also, like the TW4 Obelisks, the new Obelisk of Light is capable of shooting down aerial units as well, albeit without the sweeping motion, meaning that it can only shoot a single air unit at a time if combating aerial threats. However, like all of its predecessors, the Obelisk of Light suffers from the weakness of high power demand and slow rate of fire.

More structure list coming soon...

* * *

Devout vs. Marine

This time for the vs. series, I decided to return back to the basics: a clash between the two basic infantry types from both Nod and Terran. Although these 2 infantries had already clashed several times in my story, I think I should analyse them again in detail.

**Devout:**

Devouts are the true main line of soldiers behind the Nod Infantry Armed Forces. These highly devoted, loyal followers of Kane are adorned in Nod standard infantry battle armour; which are modified from other Terran faction's standard Marine CMC power suit. These armour are lighter and slimmer than the original, allowing Devouts to run faster. Each Devout is also equipped with chain guns mounted inside both of their wrists, allowing greater flexibility in combating enemies without space restriction by a bulky weapon, which a Devout holds none in his hands. With the aid of advanced targeting systems installed in their visors, not only do Devouts are able to target and pick off light ground enemies with accurate bursts of wrist-mounted chain gun fire, they are able to shoot down light aerial threats with ease. Devouts can be get physical upgrades to their endurance and speed through Tiberium infusions. However, Devouts are weakly protected against anti-personnel weapons, and their chain guns are ineffective against heavily armoured tanks, ships and other heavy weapons.

**Marine:**

Marines make up of the backbone of most Terran infantry armed forces in the Koprulu Sector, including the Terran Dominion's Marine Corp. Adorned in CMC power suit and armed with C-14 Impaler gauss rifle; some are also armed with additional weapons, such as grenade, sniper rifles or gauss miniguns, Terran Marines are versatile units suited in combating a wide variety of threats, ranging from lightly armed insurgents, rebels, to masses of Zerglings and heavily shielded Protoss warriors. Marine ranks are made up of a mixture of people, ranging from raw conscripts drafted from civilian populations, to neural resocialised hardened criminals. Marines benefit from a variety of equipment upgrades, in which combat shields and stim-packs being the most common. While combat shields can slightly prolong Marine survival rate during combat by offering a small degree of extra protection, stim-packs temporarily boost Marines' offensive capabilities with the cost of a small amount health. Marines work best in medium to large-sized squads, raining hail of suppression fire of armour-piercing 8mm depleted uranium spikes against opposition forces. In large numbers, Marine squads can even shoot down entire star ships out of the sky in the matter of seconds. However, a Marine that gets cut off from the rest of the squad usually hasa low chance of survival out in the open, since their CMC armour is still ineffective against heavy and biological weapons, and a single gauss rifle does have trouble delivering enough damage to cripple a heavily armoured foe such as a tank or a Protoss.

**Comparison**

Both infantries look quite similar in size and shape, although the Devout's armour is lighter and slimmer in design and has his wrist-mounted chain guns in each wrist instead of a bulky C-14 Impaler gauss rifle. Hence the Devout has the edge in speed, mobility and flexibility. A Devout's chain gun is slightly less powerful than a C-14, dual chain guns give the Devout a stronger combined firepower than the Marine.

While the Marine lacks the mobility and firepower of the Devout, the Marine has better protection and upgrades. A Marine equipped with combat shield can last longer than even a Tiberium-infused Devout on a non-Tiberium field, A stimmed Marine can also temporarily outgun a Devout, albeit with the cost of a bit of his health.

Devouts are recruited from the populations of the Brotherhood of Nod, hence their loyalty to Kane and the Brotherhood are absolute. They are also highly disciplined, not hesitating to follow every single order given by their messiah or superiors. The Marines, however, are mostly either forcefully drafted into service or undergone neural resocialisation, with only a small proportion of them sign in voluntarily. Although their harsh training ensure discipline, their loyalty is still questionable. Still, Marine training has a wider range than Devout training, since there are some Marines who have been trained to handle specialised weapons such as grenades, gauss miniguns and sniper rifles.

A standard Marine's C-14 Impaler gauss rifle fires armour-piercing spikes, ideal to combat foes of any armour types. While a Devout's normal firepower exceeds those of a Marine's, the dual wrist-mounted chainguns lack the armour-piercing capabilities and hence their efficiency against more heavily armoured targets is greatly reduced. However, Devouts are better trained in urban warfare tactics compared to their Marine counterparts, able to utilise the knowledge to garrison and fortify civilian structures to gain a defensive edge over their foes.

Devout's edge:

Speed and mobility

Flexibility

Firepower

Loyalty and discipline

Urban combat

Marine's edge:

Protection

Stim-pack

Versatility

Discipline

**Conclusion**

Devout wins if:

In an urban combat scenario, where Devouts can take advantage of civilian structures to garrison and gain a significant edge over their Marine foes. Devouts will also have the edge over Marines when they have undergone Tiberium infusion and are engaging Marines on a Tiberium field. If the Devouts can surprise and inflict serious damage to Marine formations, both physically and morally, there is even a chance that some of the more cowardly Marines would desert their ranks.

Marine wins if:

When fully upgraded with combat shields and stim-packs, Marines can easily outgun and outlast Devouts in a direct head-on shootout. Marines will also have the edge over Devouts if the Marines are on high ground; or there is little cover for Devouts to take cover with, making the lighter armoured infantries fully exposed to the armour piercing spikes of Impaler gauss rifles. If there is a Marine specialised in other forms of anti-personnel weapons such as grenades or sniper rifles in the squad, the Marines will also have a higher chance to decimate their Devout foes.

* * *

So basically Marines will beat Devouts in most scenarios, unless the battle is taking place in an urban settlement or if the Devouts have the high ground. Still, I believe that the outcome of the battle would be highly dependent on each individual soldier's skill and the teamwork between the squad mates as well. The next chapter will feature battles to be taken place in FPS view instead of the usual RTS view. Once again, updates may be slow mainly because of university works and such.

With so much popular demand for the return of GDI, I may decide to bring them into the story earlier than I planned. Still, I'm afraid GDI or their descendents will only make their appearance earliest by the 2nd part of trilogy.


	25. Act 24: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Ghost&Spec

Sorry for the very late update. I accidentally lost this file when I'm halfway done, making me to have to write the whole thing down again. Then the exams came in and work had been stalled again.

To alichi: The reason why the Scrin in this story is in crisis of Tiberium shortage is simply because they have stripped farmed all resources from available planets around them dry. With Earth as their only known planet to them that still contain resources for them to seed Tiberium, but no way for them to get to there after the Threshold Tower had been reconfigured during the retreat, the Scrin basically had no more resource-rich planets around them to seed.

To Blanchimont: I know there will be this timeline issue when I was writing this chapter. Since we don't know how long exactly does it take for Raynor and his crew to complete each of these canon missions in Wings of Liberty, I can only come up with a guess. In my point of view, the closest guess I can come up with is about a few weeks or half an Earth month. It may seem that the Protoss had spent less than a week to combat Nod forces, Zergs and Scrin on Mar Sara, don't forget that the battle had taken place across the entire planet, not just near Mar Sara City or Ground Zero. The battles described in the story are just some of the key skirmishes in the entire battle that represent who's winning in the battle. Each of these skirmishes may have a span of a few days, so the overall battle will most likely be slightly, about near a week or so; and that is for one of these battles against ONE faction. This is why I think a few weeks is a reasonable timeline for the Protoss to take to prepare, plan, rest and combat against 3 factions on Mar Sara.

After hearing some suggestions, I'd decided to lower down the rating of this fic a bit. When I first started it, I rated it as M for precaution since there will be a lot of deaths and blood going on. This is about war, so it's expected. But after browsing other fics in this site for some time, I realised that there are many others even bloodier but with lower rating. So I decided to follow the crowd. If anyone of you think that the rating is inappropriate, I can change it back to M.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

WARNING: UNAUTHORISED ENTRY DETECTED...

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 24: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: GHOST AND SPECTRE**

(High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... Nova Squadron flagship _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

Nova Squadron commander Colonel Akira Yamada is now staring at his command terminal, which is showing the inner layout of the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. With Agent Nova Terra still out of contact and the rest of his agents being pulled out from the enemy territory, Akira has decided to turn his attention to the mysterious gravity wells found in the inner chambers of the orbital platform. Due to the presence of these gravity wells, Akira has feared that the orbital platform where the Delta Squadron has now based itself on and where all the Nukes for this operation have been housed on, can be a hidden trap set by the Brotherhood of Nod; hence he has decided to stay on his ship rather than getting down there. Now, he needs to investigate what they are truly used for.

A few hours ago, he had sent in an engineering squad of SCVs and Technicians, escorted by a Marine squad and a Ghost agent, into the inner chambers of the orbital platform to study the gravity wells. Regardless of what the Nod forces are planning to use these wells for, Akira is not planning to let them use it.

"SCV Team N-09A; what's your status?" the Nova Squadron commander asks.

"_bzzt... Sir; we've reached the first gravity well! We'd encountered a few booby traps along the way, but fortunately with Agent West accompanying us, we'd been given early warnings of those booby traps and managed to neutralise them safely. All personnel are accounted for and there're no casualties in the team yet."_

"Good to know; what about the gravity well? Can you shut it down?"

"_Sorry sir! It's not going to be that easy. The well has been rigged with multiple booby traps; all of them appear to be low explosives filled with high volumes of splinters. If these traps blow off, the well will still be operational, but any occupants in the chamber would be dead. I'm afraid that the other wells may have been rigged with similar traps."_

"I see... can you disable the traps?"

"_We can... but it's going to cost us a lot of time to do that."_

"Then do it! We don't know when the Nod forces will start activating these wells. It's better for us to start shutting down these wells as early as possible before something happens. Remember that the Delta Squadron has set up camp on this platform, and our Nukes are also housed on the platform. If something happens to it, we'll be in deep trouble! Now defuse those traps and work to shut down all these wells immediately!"

"_Roger that!"_

A few minutes after Akira ends his transmission with SCV Team N-09A, the Japanese commander receives an update from the battle down on Bhekar Ro surface; they had just tracked down Nova's new position.

Eager to know the status of the Mengsk's favourite Ghost, Akira quickly orders his men to patch him in to the blonde Ghost.

"Nova; what's your status?"

"_bzzt... This is Agent Nova to Mjolnir command... I had just infiltrated into the basement of the target. Met some resistance by the station guards, but I'd eliminated most of them. Right now, I'm using the adjutant-synchronised data drive to download the map layout of the station to find the main control terminal where I can find all the essential Nod files to accomplish my primary objective." _Nova replies.

"Alright, Nova... once you've obtained the map and the files, transmit them back to the _Mjolnir_. We'll help you to analyse them and use these information to get you out of that place in one piece."

"_bzzt... Don't worry sir; I'll finish this before the fools on Delta Squadron can arrive to clean this place up."_

"You will! Right now, our Nod enemies have deployed a new kind of advanced base defence that have been stalling the Delta Squadron's advance. The new defences have tremendous firepower that can eliminate any of our ground or air units in an instant, but these defences require heavy power consumptions. If you can shut down the power supply of the entire base, you should be able to shut those defences down and clear a path for the Delta Squadron to take this base down."

"_I see... and those fools still think that they are doing us a favour by clearing a path for me? Looks like I'm the one helping them instead the other way round. Understood, sir; I'll list down the destruction of the Power Plant clusters in this base as my primary objective after I'd obtained the files from this station."_

"Thank you Nova! Wait... we've just received your transmission of the map layout of the station. Now... let's see... the map doesn't show a lot of details on what has been installed in the whole station, so we must expect that there may be some traps and enemy units along the way. The main control terminal of this station appears to be in... the main broadcast studio on Level 6! That will be your destination!"

"_Understood; I'm now plotting down my path to my new destination..."_

"Hurry, Nova; the Nod forces must be aware of your presence in the station by now. They will be gunning you down with everything they have once they have found you. I'm now ending communication line between you and _Mjolnir_ to prevent the enemies from tracking you through transmission lines; you're on your own now, Nova. Good luck! _Mjolnir_ out!"

"_bzzzt... Acknowledged! Nova out!"_

After the transmission has ended, Akira switches off the communication line between the ship and Nova, knowing that the enemy may be able to track the Ghost through these communication lines. Nova is on her own now; Akira just hopes that the star Ghost can have the skills and experience to back up her reputation as the Ghost that never fails.

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Base no. 10... Main Broadcast Station Level B6 Section 7B...)

With her new objective directives recorded down, Nova prepares to move out. Ignoring the scores of dead bodies of slain Nod soldiers laid strewn across the floor, Nova makes her leave, stepping out of the chamber.

As Nova comes upon a long narrow corridor, she instantly realises that she has been spotted. The Ghost surveys the corridor to find the corridor lined with security cameras, which she has felt that these cameras have been installed with advanced sensory equipment, meaning that these cameras can sense her despite her cloaking.

'Wow... never thought that these Nod forces are so prepared... looks like I have to take out those cameras one by one.' With that thought in mind, Nova hoists up her AGR-14 assault gauss rifle and starts shooting at the cameras; one round for each camera with perfect accuracy. In less than a minute, the Ghost wipes out all the sensory cameras along the entire corridor, leaving none working. It is only when Nova is sure that there are no more of these cameras present around do the Ghost resumes her search.

Just then, Nova's psionic radar detects a pair of infantries approaching; and they are fast. 2 Shadow Warriors hear the gunshots and are quick to arrive to investigate. However, even with their own cloaking, the pair of Shadows are no match to the elite Ghost when they cannot even see her at the first place; not without the support of the security cameras that are supposed to be lined along the corridor. On the other hand, Nova's high PI level allows her to psionically sense her opponents through her pisonic radar even if the enemies are cloaked, meaning that she can see the Shadows while the Shadows cannot. Before the Shadows know what hit them, 2 more gunshots are fired... and the Shadows drop dead.

'That's not too hard... but I don't think the enemy will be stupid enough to not figure out my movements through this complex when they find out their cameras are going blind. Best for me to hurry to the primary objective!'

Nova begins to pick up her pace, dashing across the corridor with amazing speed. She keeps sprinting... until she reaches the end of the corridor and towards the entrance of another chamber, which reads "Section 7A".

'Hmm... according to the map layout of this facility, the main broadcast studio is in the central region of the facility on Level 6... and the only route to gain access to that area is through an elevator at Section 3A on Level 1. The entire building has 8 sections on each level... and there is an elevator in each section which allow access to and from any levels other than Level 6. Looks like I need to find an elevator and get up to the higher levels first.'

With that in mind, Nova cautiously approach the chamber entrance of Section 7A, knowing that the entrance may be rigged with traps or there may be enemy soldiers lying in wait behind from the other end of the chamber. By using her psionic radar, she picks no traps and only several more cameras in the chamber. With inhuman speed, Nova barges into the chamber and takes out all cameras with her AGR-14, shutting the enemy surveillance blind. The Ghost checks her surrounding for a few more seconds, before heading towards the next chamber. If she recalls correctly, there is an elevator in the next chamber.

* * *

(A few minutes later... Main Broadcast Station Level B6 Section 7A...)

After Nova walks into another room, she finally sees an elevator at one of the room's corner. Cautiously, the Ghost slowly approaches the elevator while observing it at the same time. From the numbers indicated in front of the elevator door, Nova can tell that there is someone coming down, most likely more pathetic Nod grunts trying to stop her. She will let them try, and let them know that they will fail in vain just before their deaths.

Checking that her cloaking is still on, Nova sneaks herself just right outside next to the elevator door. She slings her AGR-14 assault gauss rifle back onto her shoulder, switching to her Psyblade gauntlet. With her super high PI level, Nova has been one of the few Dominion Ghosts that have been issued with Psyblades, reverse engineered by Dominion scientists from their Protoss origins for Terran use. These exotic weapons are very few in numbers, hence only the best and most psionically gifted Ghosts are allowed to use them.

With her melee weapon ready, Nova stays silent; waiting for the elevator door to open. Then, when the number flashes "B6" and a buzzer sound is heard, she knows that the enemy is near. The elevator door opens, revealing 4 Devouts led by a single Confessor. The 5 Nod soldiers march out, unaware that their target is just hiding right next to where they have entered the room.

The Confessor, identified by his bulkier power suit, which is around the same size as a standard Marine CMC armour, a tall conical full face helmet with 4 red visors, a black cloak attached to the shoulder pads of his armour, and a heavy gauss rifle carried in his hands; begins to issue orders to the Devouts to spread out and check for enemy presence. He himself has hoisted up his C-1X heavy gauss rifle, ready to shoot at any suspicious characters.

Knowing that she is now outnumbered 5 to 1, Nova has to tread carefully to take these new threats out even though she is fully cloaked. If these soldiers start to shoot across the entire room in a panic, there is a chance that a stray round can hurt her or worse, damage her Crius suit and reveals her location. Her best shot now is to take them out silently, one by one.

The Ghost decides to stay put first, remaining motionless so as to not produce a single sound that may alert those Nod soldiers that she is just standing right in the same room as them. Standing motionless right next to the elevator door, Nova looks on as the Confessor and his 4 Devout minions begin to spread out. As the Nod soldiers begin to space themselves further and further apart, Nova knows that it is almost time to strike. Then, she sees an opportunity.

One of the Devouts decides to head back to the elevator entrance for some reason, possibly trying to cover their route of retreat in case if the situation gets too sticky. However, as the Devout does so, he gets himself out of visual range of his fellow squad mates, making himself fully separated from the entire squad. As the lone Devout stands a step just right next to the elevator door, Nova decides to strike. With psionically enhanced speed, the elite Ghost activates her Psyblade and plunges the energy blade right through the Devout's throat from the back, silencing the Nod soldier before he can even mutter a single word. In a single fluid stroke, Nova slices and fully decapitates the Devout. This stealth kill has ended in less than 5 seconds.

However, the sound of a thud echoes across the room when the headless body of the Devout collapses onto the chamber floor, alerting the remaining Nod soldiers. Realising that something is amiss, the Confessor and the 3 remaining Devouts quickly rush back to the elevator scene; only to discover the headless body of their squad mate and his decapitated head.

"This is Confessor Black reporting back to HQ; we've just lost a disciple... I suspect the Ghost is still somewhere here nearby... requesting for..."

Before the Confessor can finish his words, a flash grenade is suddenly being tossed right in front of the gathering squad, surprising the Confessor.

"A flashbang... all units: look away!"

Unfortunately, the Confessor's warning comes too late. The flash grenade detonates just at the exact moment when the Confessor has just started to react. The resulting flash instantaneously blinds the entire squad, forcing them to cover their visors with their hands. These actions have given the hidden assassin the exact opportunities she need.

In less than a second, the Ghost brandishes out her AGR-14 again and fires a single round right into each of every remaining Nod soldier's head with godly accuracy, killing all of them before anyone of them has a chance to fire a shot back. With all threats neutralised, Nova slings her AGR-14 back onto her shoulder and cautiously approaches all of the dead bodies; checking that all of them are truly dead and not playing possum. Using her Psyblade, she stabs each dead Nod soldier in their necks, making sure that none of them will rise up again.

As Nova approaches the dead Confessor's body, the blonde Ghost notices a green card in the Confessor's right hand. Picking up the green card, Nova realises that the card is a Green Security Clearance Card, which seems to be vital for anyone that wants to use any of the elevator systems in this building.

'Well... what do you know? I guess I've just hit a jackpot...'

With the Green Security Clearance Card in her hands, Nova approaches the closed elevator entrance; and flashes her 'new card' in front of the elevator's scanner. In an instant, the Ghost has been given clearance to use the elevator.

* * *

(Section 7 Elevator...)

Before Nova steps into the elevator, the Ghost has already noticed another security camera hidden in the elevator ceiling. With a mild blast using her vast psionic powers, Nova blasts the camera into oblivion without the need to use her hands or weapons.

Nova scans the interior of the elevator to ensure that there are no traps laid inside. From what she can see, this elevator is rather spacious; able to house about 5 to 6 fully equipped armoured infantries, including those Devouts and Confessor earlier. After making sure that there are no traps inside, the Ghost steps in.

Inside the elevator, Nova checks the accessible levels of the building . With the Green Security Clearance Card in her hand, she is only able to gain access to the ground level as well as all basement level. She knows that if she wants to reach the Main Broadcast Studio on Level 6, she would need to first get to Level 1 Section 3A. With that in mind, the blonde hits the '1' selection icon on the elevator electronic panel.

The elevator door shuts as the selection is made... and instantly ascends in level. Knowing that there may be more enemies up at the ground level, Nova reloads her AGR-14 and prepares all her assault gauss rifle magazines, ready to unleash hell upon anyone that dare to stand against her.

As the elevator just goes past Level B2, Nova suddenly detects a presence through her psionic radar; a rather familiar one. The psionic signature appears to be masked intentionally in an effort to remain stealthy, but the powerful blonde psionic girl is still able to detect that signature... meaning that it must have come from another powerful psionic being. To Nova, this signature is what she had been trying to track for years before the emperor had given her this new mission.

'It can't be? One of the secondary targets is right inside this building too? Should I pursue him first or resume my primary mission?' the Ghost is in a dilemma.

* * *

(Main Broadcast Station Level B3 Section 2A...)

A Reckoner bursts right through the walls of an ammunition storage room in Section 2A of Level B3. The rampaging Reckoner then comes to a stop, in which a shadowy figure emerges from inside the cockpit. The figure hoists up his AGR-28 assault gauss rifle, firing a round right into an ammunition pile before retreating back into the vehicle. The round ignites the ammunition pile, causing a massive explosion that sets the entire subsection in flames, killing several squads of Nod guards that are rushing towards the scene after they had received warnings from LEGION about a 2nd hijacked Recknoner heading their way.

As the destroyed subsection burns in flames, the figure steps out of the Reckoner again, setting foot onto the chamber floor. The figure reveals himself as a dark skinned, white eyed bearded man dressed in black Spectre hazard suit with red glowing LED lines. The man's dark brownish hair has been pulled to the back of his head in dreadlocks. In his hands is an AGR-28. The man is the Spectre Gabriel Tosh, a mercenary and currently a business partner with James Raynor, who may soon be his ally for one of his long-term goal.

As Tosh surveys the scene of carnage of his own creation, the Spectre suddenly senses a powerful presence through his 'voodoo mind'. The presence is familiar; one that he is trying to get away from for years after a few unpleasant run-ins, despite the fact that they were once fellow students and teammates in the Dominion Ghost Academy on Ursa; and once secret lovers.

'Oh boy... I shouldn't have come here first! Luckily she's still inside some kind of elevator or something, so she won't be getting here too quickly. I guess I should start looking for some clues and get out of here before that baby finds me.'

* * *

(High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... inside _Hyperion _control bridge...)

While Tosh is getting into trouble of getting discovered by one of his most persistent pursuers, Raynor and his men are observing the entire skirmish over Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10 through the footage relayed by a cloaked satellite released into the planet's orbit. As they wait for Tosh's response, the Raynor's Raiders decide to spend their time by studying more on their more enigmatic future foe.

At first, the Raynor's Raiders have doubts that the Nod forces are capable of holding off the full blunt of a Dominion frontal assault when the Delta Squadron and the Nova Squadron had deployed plenty of Ravens and Orbital Command Centres to neutralise the stealth advantage. Adding Ghosts to the equation, it almost seems that there will be a disastrous defeat awaiting for the Nod forces. To their surprise, not only did the Nod forces hold off the Dominion assault well with appropriate unit counters, the Noddies even conduct countermeasures to prevent the Dominion forces from using their deadliest weapon: Nukes. Without the use of Nukes, the Dominion forces had to be forced to attack the Nod bases in massive waves. When it seems that the Noddies would finally succumb to the Dominion's unmatched combination of superior firepower and armour, those new towers suddenly began to pop up. Then, everything had changed.

Everyone on board of _Hyperion _watching the footage were totally awed by the power of the Obelisks of Light. Never before had anyone of them witnessing a weapon capable of cutting a Crucio-class Siege Tank into half in just one or two shot. Not even a Thor or an Ultralisk can do this much damage so quickly. Worst of all, these towers were capable of handling tightly clustered ground unit formations and aerial threats as well, making them a dangerous weapon with few weaknesses. From what Raynor can observe from these obelisks, the leader of the Raiders concludes that the only possible safe way of taking those things down without sacrificing a unit is through nuking.

Rory Swann, the dwarfish-looking chief engineer on board of _Hyperion_, has remarked multiple times of how he desires to get his hands on all those Noddies' toys. In the former Kel-Morian miner's point of view, the technology and gadgets invented by those Noddies would surely be helpful to the undermanned Raynor's Raiders. Imagine having one of those obelisk of their own; with that they have no need to fear from Mengsk's goons pursuing and destroying their base of operation. Or having those 'Perdition tanks'; with that Zerg rushes will no longer be so scary anymore. Or having those cloaking and burrowing vehicles; that would make covert missions even easier. The only criticism that the short portly man has made about the Noddie's gadgets is that the Noddies have focused on too much speed and offense on their vehicles, not giving them enough protection against the Dominion arsenal in a direct frontal assault. If it was him, he would trade some of the speed for heavier armour, making them near unstoppable powerhouses in any kind of combat scenario.

"Damn! Nice toys those Noddies got down there!" the chief engineer remarks, "Hope that Tosh guy would bring one of those babies back intact."

"Hell yeah! I agree with old grease. Wish I would be locked inside those Noddie's grunt armour instead of this one... theirs look lighter and less restraining." Tychus states.

Raynor ignores the comments made by his crew as they continue to watch the Dominion and Nod forces slugging out on Bhekar Ro surface. In his mind, the rebel leader has been analysing all the different weapons and tactics employed by the Nod forces throughout the entire time rather than simply marvelling at their hardware. As Jim continues to watch on, he is starting to get less and less confident on how his current forces can hope to stand against a force like this. If one planetary bastion-sized force of Noddies can stand against 2 major Dominion squadrons even when cut off from the outside world and backed to a corner, imagine what the entire Nod Armed Forces is capable of; and the fact is no one knows exactly how big is the Brotherhood of Nod. Maybe they do have what it takes to challenge the Terran Dominion for power in this sector; heck they may even have a chance to topple Mengsk from his throne if the Dominion tyrant gets too careless.

'Damn! Those Noddies performed better than I thought... how do I even have a chance to beat them?' Raynor ponders. Although the outlaw does not wish to face off against the wrath of the Brotherhood, Raynor knows that if Kane is someone like Mengsk, then the overall defeat of Mengsk and the Terran Dominion would only mean the switching from one galactic tyrant to another; something that is not what he is fighting for. Lately, he had been crossing paths with Kane's men for one reason or another, with a few encounters due to both of them pursuing the same goals. They had even had a brief skirmish back on Deadman's Port. Sooner or later, a head-on confrontation would be inevitable.

While Raynor is still deep in thoughts, Tray suddenly asks, "Sir? Do you think Mr. Tosh is going to be alright down there?"

Snapping his attention back to the younger officer, Raynor wonders for a moment before looking back at the battle portrayed in the screen; it seems that the battle between Nod defenders and the combined forces of Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron is still going on fiercely and there seems to be no definite winners yet.

"Relax, Tray; with Mengsk's boys and the Noddies still busy fighting against each other, it's least likely that anyone of them will pay attention to look for Tosh. Besides, if Tosh fails, it just shows that he isn't good enough as what he claims. If that's the case, we'll try to look for another way in." Raynor replies. Although he sounds heartless as if he does no care for Gabriel's wellbeing, he has his reasons. The Spectre known as Gabriel Tosh is too suspicious and none of his crew are ready to trust the psionic mercenary yet. For someone who has the ability to burst a brain just by thinking hard, no one would really like to stay close to him. It is also pretty obvious to everyone that the Spectre has been using Raynor's Raiders to help him rebuild his Spectre army. The reason why Raynor had decided to agree helping Tosh is so that by helping the Spectre leader to regain his army, he may be able to convince the rogue Dominion agent that he 'owes' him, making him a likely future ally. Besides, if Mengsk gets to know that the Spectres have returned, maybe that old treacherous emperor would divert some of his attention away from his group to the newly emerged Spectre army. Anyway, it will be a win-win situation for both him and Tosh.

After listening to his boss's explanation, Tray remains silent, as he joins his crewmate to resume watching the fierce battles on the surface. It seems the battle is far from over.

* * *

(Main Broadcast Station Level B3 Section 1A...)

'Hmm... let's see... Noddie guard shift list... some propaganda shit things... more propaganda shits... damn... there's nothing useful to hint where that robo is.' Tosh mentally curses, as he hacks and searches through a computer terminal in the chamber. 2 Saboteurs and 4 Devouts lie dead on the floor next to the Spectre.

"Alright, time to check the next room..."

* * *

(A few minutes later... Level B3 Section 1B...)

'More preachy stuff again... damn... why there's no useful stuff when I need one?' It seems that Gabriel has hit another dead-end in his search. The Spectre slams his palm onto the computer terminal in frustration.

"Alright, next..."

* * *

(Another few minutes later... Level B3 Section 4A...)

'Even more preachy stuff... alright, next...'

* * *

(Another few minutes later... Level B3 Section 5A...)

'Still the same old propaganda rubbish by their bald bossman... seriously do these Noddies have any forms of entertainment?'

* * *

(Another few minutes later... Level B3 Section 6A...)

'Still no clue down here... and still the same old religious honcho stuff! I guess I need to try another approach. I remember there're administration offices in the above ground levels. Maybe I'll get better luck over there... but I may meet even more Noddies along the way. I think there's an armoury mentioned in the map layout of this facility somewhere in Level B2, perhaps I can find something useful in there.'

Tosh decides to head to one level higher, where an armoury is located. Knowing that he would encounter even more Nod forces as he goes higher up for his search, Tosh believes that he needs to get more equipment and tools from there to storm his way through.

Bending down right next to the corpse of a freshly slain Nod Confessor, the Spectre picks up a Green Security Clearance Card. By briefly glimpsing through the mind of his foe before blasting the foe's brain with his 'voodoo magic', Tosh learns that he will need the Confessor's Green Security Clearance Card in order to gain access of most elevator in this building. Not only that, in order to get into the armoury on the Level B2, he would need a Yellow Security Clearance Card, in which this Confessor does not possess.

"Oh well, better than nothing. Guess I'll look for a yellow card on the next level up. Thanks for the card, mon!" The Spectre mock thanks the dead body of the Confessor, before stepping into the Section 6 elevator.

* * *

(Seconds later... Level B2 Section 6A...)

Gabriel Tosh steps out of the elevator, with his AGR-28 poised and ready to respond to any possible enemy ambush. Soon enough, as soon as the Spectre steps out of the elevator and into the room, he is immediately greeted by an incoming mob of Devouts, Militants and a few Confessors. The Nod guards immediately open fire, with the cloaked Spectre in their sight due to transmission of thermal images through their visors by advanced sensory security cameras lining the room's ceilings. Realising that he has been spotted, Tosh immediately channels his 'voodoo powers' and creates a psionic shield around himself, fully protecting himself from harm's way. With his own personal protection set up, the Spectre immediately returns fire, gunning down each and every guards with his gauss assault rifle. Bodies of Nod soldiers begin to pile as the blood of fallen Nod soldiers begin to flood the room.

One of the Confessors has realised that there is no way to take down this intruder with conventional means. Instead, the elite soldier takes out a bottle containing some kind of greenish yellow liquid. The Confessor then tosses that bottle towards the Spectre. Noticing the flying bottle, Tosh skilfully dodges the projectile, before gunning down that Confessor with a round through his head. However, unknown to the white eyed Spectre, the danger is far from over.

Suddenly, the dark Spectre begins to feel dizziness in his head. When Tosh looks up towards the remaining unslain Nod soldiers, he can see that his vision is blurring, and even sees some double multiple images of his foes.

'Damn! That conehead must have drugged me with that bottle! Got to shake it off else I'm gonna be in real big trouble.'

The Spectre closes his eyes, begins to calm his mind and focuses his psionic powers to purge the hallucinogenic drug flowing through his system; a feat that he had practiced hundreds of times during his training days as a Ghost cadet in the Ghost Academy. In less than a minute, Tosh opens his white eyes again as he has felt his vision cleared again, indicating that the drug has been fully purged from his body. Wasting no time, the Spectre resumes fire upon the Nod guards as if nothing's had happened just now.

Just before Tosh can gun down the last remaining squad of Militants, the Spectre's psionic senses begin to pick up dangers right in front of him. Soon enough, several mini pop-up turrets, all of them comprise of a single long barrel tube each (1), begin to pop out from beneath the floor and start firing beams of laser towards the Spectre.

The beams of laser disperse upon contact onto the Spectre's psionic shield, but Tosh knows that his shield would not last long after such relentless assault. He also knows that the AGR-28 in his hands does not pack enough firepower to take down all those turrets by itself. Hence the Spectre decides to duck to a corner to avoid further fire.

'Damn those lasers! Need some bigger firepower to take out those turrets...'

Just then, as if the Spectre's wish has been granted, Tosh notices another squad of Nod Militants coming his way; one of them is wearing a red poncho and carrying a shoulder-mounted twin-barrelled rocket launcher.

'Thank the spirits that's just what I need!'

In an instant, Tosh briefly emerges out from his cover and quickly places a few accurate shots right into the Rocket Militant's chest, killing the red clad militia and forcing the now dead man to drop his weapon. Before the pop-up laser turrets can zap him into the oblivion, Tosh quickly return back to hiding behind the corner.

'Alright, now the guy's dropped his weapon... now I somehow need to rush in there and get it... looks like I need to strengthen my shield first and get rid the rest of those fodders.'

Focusing his psionic energy, the elite Spectre reforms his psionic shield. Seconds later, with the rough location of all his foes already memorised, Tosh quickly springs into action; dashing out from his cover and rushes straight towards the rocket launcher while shooting and killing all opposing Nod soldiers along his way. Nod Militant guards begin to drop dead one by one, each killed with accurate kill shots to either their head or chest.

The Laser Turrets immediately respond to the Spectre's sudden movement and resume another round of firing. Once again, the laser beams strike harmlessly upon the invisible wall of barrier surrounding the Spectre, giving Tosh the precious seconds needed for him to grab the dropped rocket launcher on the floor.

With a skilful roll, Tosh grabs the weapon. Seeing that both rocket warheads are already loaded into the launcher, as the conical warheads are already visibly protruding out of the barrels like those of ancient RPG launchers, the Spectre immediately takes aim at the closest turret and presses the trigger. One of the warheads launches itself towards the turret, blowing the small pop-up structure into bits of parts and scrap metal. With the destruction of the first turret, Tosh turns his direction towards the second closest turret. Once again, the Spectre takes aim and fires the second warhead, blowing up the turret into oblivion.

Out of ammunition, Tosh quickly rushes towards the corpse of the Rocket Militant that he has slain earlier. Ignoring the barrage of laser beams striking upon his psionic shield, the Spectre rummages through the dead Rocket Militant's body to loot all of the dead militia's rocket ammunition. With the extra ammunition in his hands, Tosh quickly loads 2 more warheads into the rocket launcher. Then, he fires the 2 warheads at 2 more turrets, before loading again. The cycle goes on, until all the pop-up turrets are destroyed... just before the psionic shield has run out of power.

"Now that's close mon... any few more shots and I'm gonna get hurt for real. Good for me that I got this nice toy to blow those lasers up before they zap me to the spirit world. Now I don't need to fear from those surprises anymore." The Spectre comments to himself as he hoists the newly acquired twin-barrelled rocket launcher back behind his shoulder. Then, he starts to rummage through the dead bodies of the slain Nod soldiers to search for anything useful.

"Hmm... some ammunitions... but none of them fits in my rifle. Then there's this... some propaganda booklets... do these Noddies make their own bible too? I guess these are all just grunts, so none of them should have the yellow card that I need. Wonder where are those big shots hiding?"

With no more enemies in the area, the white-eyed Spectre decides to explore the other sections of the building for his search for a Yellow Security Clearance Card.

* * *

(Meanwhile... Level B3 Section 7B...)

BANG!

A Confessor in the middle of a Devout squad formation drops dead with a single gunshot wound to his head, causing the rest of the squad to panic. Some of the less experienced Devouts in the squad start to shoot randomly in the chamber, hoping to get a lucky shot at whoever the mysterious assassin that has taken out their spiritual squad leader. However, before they can strike gold with their random shots, several more rounds of gauss assault rifle rounds sound across the chamber. Seconds later, the rest of the entire Devout squad falls dead on the floor in a pool of their own blood.

Nova smirks as she disposes the last of the Devouts standing in her way. It is all a simple textbook strategy; take out the leader first to disorganise the squad, then the rest of them will be easier to pick off one by one. It has worked when Nova snipes the Confessor with her C20A canister rifle first, before clearing the rest of the mob with the AGR-14 before they realise that they should have retreated first.

The reason why Nova is in this level rather than heading towards the ground level where she was heading towards initially is because of the presence of the psionic signature of a certain Spectre that she had been tracking for years. Although her orders by Emperor Mengsk had been clear that her primary objective is to gather data about the Brotherhood of Nod from this installation and the apprehension of the Spectre convict is to be treated as a secondary objective only if he is to cross directly right into her path, for some reason, Nova has felt that it is her personal mission to bring that Spectre to justice, even if she had been ordered to do something else first. To her, the apprehension of Gabriel Tosh has become a top priority personal mission for reasons even unknown to herself. It is as if there is some unknown attraction between her and the Spectre. The blonde Ghosts makes a mental note to get her mind 'fixed' after this mission; that is if she can complete it and make it out alive first. As an elite Ghost, Nova knows that she must not be distracted from her primary objectives; and this behaviour is currently unacceptable. Yet she just cannot help but find herself heading towards the rogue psionic agent even when she has another higher priority mission in her mind. So now, Nova has found herself wandering in Level B3, staring at the corpses of Nod soldiers killed by her guns.

Just as the elite Ghost has thought that the skirmish is over, her psionic radar picks up presence of 4 more infantries heading her way. In fact, she can start to hear the heavy thudding footsteps coming her way. Judging from the heavy footsteps, the blonde knows that she is most likely going to face against either flamethrower-wielding robed heavy infantries, or cyborgs. Then, when Nova hears a characteristic scuttling noise, the Ghost is fully convinced that the approaching opposition are cyborgs. Her suspicion is confirmed when the 4 figures emerge out from a corner; 2 Enlightened and 2 Spiders.

The Ghost remains silent; confident that her indefinite cloaking would keep her out of the cyborgs' sight. However, it is not the case when for some reason, the 4 cyborgs turn their heads towards her the moment when they step out of the chamber corner.

"ENEMY UNIT SIGHTED... SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS: TERRAN GHOST... INPUTTING COMMAND: TERMINATE SUBJECT..." one of the Enlightened announces in its monotonous robotic voice.

'Shit! They found me... but how?'

Just then, Nova spots a gleam of light in the chamber ceiling. Then she realises how the cyborgs spot her despite her cloaking.

'Damn! I missed one security camera in the ceiling! I should have noticed it earlier if not for those Nod fodders distracting me!' Nova curses as she quickly hide behind some cargo crates to gain cover.

The blonde starts to get a little bit nervous. Although her AGR-14 and C20A are capable of killing those cyborgs, they are not easy to take down completely as each of these cyborgs would often need lots of rounds in order to put them down permanently. The fastest way she can kill a cyborg based on her own experience is by putting at least 2 shots through their head with sniper rounds from a distance; but this is usually in a one-on-one scenario. Faced against 4 cyborgs, even for a skilled sharpshooter like her does not have the concentration to snipe 4 cyborgs repeatedly in an instant; especially when all 4 enemies are aware of her presence. She needs another strategy, or she would be the one ended dead instead.

'Come on... how am I going to take down 4 half-robots in an instant without them killing me? Let's see... my AGR-14 doesn't have the firepower to take them down quickly, so that's one out... I may be able to take out one or two by sniping them in the head using C20A with a round or two, but there's 4 of them and they would be onto me before I can take all of them out... EMP rounds may disrupt their combat performance for a while, but I don't think it will be much of a help if I'm against 4 of them... I don't have enough grenades to take out all of them either... E-11 lockdown devices have been known to have limited effects against those things... wait, I got it!'

As the 4 cyborgs slowly approach the hidden Ghost with their weapons ready to fire, the blonde Ghost is making mental plans to take out her hulking adversaries. Seconds later, Nova has everything all planned out.

'Alright, hope this would work...'

From her hiding spot, Nova loads EMP rounds into her C20A canister rifle. Then, without warning, the blonde springs out from her hiding spot and fires 4 EMP rounds at her enemies; each round onto each cyborg. Before the cyborgs can react, the EMP rounds slam into their armour, releasing EMP fields that start to disrupt their in-built electrical circuits. In an instant, the Enlightened find out that their own EMP cannon/shield generator in their left arms have been disabled, while the Spiders are unable to use their Spinneret Synthetic Web sprayer.

After disabling the enemies' special weapons, Nova hides back to cover again. This time, she quickly takes out 4 fragmentation grenades. She knows that these grenades are not strong enough to take out those cyborgs, but they can at least knock them off their feet, giving the Ghost a precious opening to finish them off before they can retaliate. After unplugging the safety pins of all 4 grenades at once, Nova chucks all of them towards the approaching cyborgs and by using her telekinetic psionic powers, she directs the grenades towards each individual cyborg.

The Enlightened and Spiders notice the incoming grenades and immediately take evasive actions. While the Enlightened manage to get out of the way before the grenades blow up, the Spiders wide-area coverage by their quadruped legs make it difficult for them to move out of the grenades' blasts in time. As a result, both Spiders trip after the grenade blast and resulting shrapnel have damaged their leg servos, slowing down the usually nimble 4-legged cyborgs.

Knowing that their comrades operational status have been compromised, the Enlightened stay vigilant. Even if their left arm weapons/tools not working, they can still use their 70mm Centurion cannon to terminate the Ghost intruder. Just then, they detect motion coming out from a pile of cargo crates.

Nova has just dashed out of her cover once again, this time armed with an E-11 lockdown device. Ignoring the volleys of 70mm shells flying just inches away from her, the Ghost fires 2 lockdown warheads in rapid successions towards the 2 Enlightened. The warheads hit their intended targets, releasing another surge of disruptive electrical fields that begin to restrict the bipedal cyborgs' movements. The crippled Spiders try to assist the Enlightened in killing off the blonde intruder, but the nimble Ghost weaves and dodges around the spreading laser beams like a veteran acrobat, barely grazing her suit.

With all 4 enemy cyborgs crippled, Nova prepares to deliver the finishing blow. In less than a second after firing her lockdown device, the Ghost switches back to her trusty C20A. Braving against the cyborg onslaught despite having crippled those cyborgs with a combination of EMP rounds, grenades and lockdowns, Nova snipes back at the cyborgs while dashing towards another pile of cargo crates for cover. Even though she is shooting while on the move, the expert markswoman scores solid hits onto each and every cyborgs' heads with her sniper rounds. In an instant, both Spiders collapse onto the floor with sparks and fluids spurting from their head wounds. The tougher Enlightened stagger from the assault, but they also fall after Nova plant a few more rounds into their heads before they can recover.

As soon as she has destroyed all 4 cyborg foes, Nova fires one more round onto the security camera that she has missed earlier so as to prevent the enemy forces from seeing her again in case if there are more Nod soldiers lurking in the area. After checking that there are no more hostiles in the area through her psionic radar, Nova checks a burn wound on her left shoulder; she has been hit by one of the laser weapons fired by one of the Spider cyborgs in the earlier shootout. The wound is not life-threatening, but it hurts. Not wanting the wound to slow her down, Nova grabs a portable first-aid kit and takes out a syringe containing a small dosage of pain-killers. Ignoring the intense pain, the blonde injects the drug into her burn wound, which eventually subsides after the drug is delivered into her system.

'Those machines are truly a challenge to take out. Those Nod soldiers have some powerful weapons, but it is a real pain that most of the enemies have their weapons installed and integrated into their combat suit. I can't rummage any useful weapons from these guys, except from those weak fodders that are not wearing power suits, and those fodders weapons are too weak to be of any use. So far, I can only find some grenades that can be quite useful in the future. Perhaps I should give recommendations to Commander Yamada about integrating weapon systems into power combat suits for our Marines too...'

As Nova is still deep in her thoughts, the Ghost senses a peak of psionic energy nearby.

'It's him! He must be really near... I must hurry before he gets away again!'

* * *

(Meanwhile... Level B2 Section 8B...)

'Damn!' Tosh curses in his mind as he hides behind a wall corner to avoid incoming fire.

In his overconfidence, the Spectre has just underestimated a team of Nod Militants led by a single Confessor. Thinking that they are easy kills, Tosh decides to challenge them head on, only to realise that he has fallen into a trap. Despite many of the Militants have been killed by the shadowy super soldier, the Nod militia squad has lured the Spectre into a trap, comprising of an array of Laser and Shredder mini-turrets (2). Tosh manages to avoid getting zapped or shredded conjuring another strong psionic shield just in time before getting hit.

Tosh peeks back from the wall corner to take a peek at the enemy turrets again. He has already encountered the Laser Turrets before and he knows that with a well placed shots by his 'borrowed' rocket launcher, they will pose little problems. The trickier ones are the second type of turrets; a turret with some kind of triple-barrelled shotgun mounted on either side. The fragmentation slugs fired from those things are harder to evade, which means they can drain his shield faster and sooner or later, hurt him.

'Alright, those shotgun cannons have to go first!'

With rocket warheads fully loaded in both barrels, Tosh hoists up the looted rocket launcher and quickly emerges out of his cover to fire the weapon, ducking back quickly within seconds before the opposing forces can take him out. The rocket warhead shoots towards the nearest Shredder Turret, blowing it into bits. Minutes later, despite the Militant squad effort to stop the Spectre by laying suppression fire upon the wall corner, Tosh systematically takes out the rest of the turret array. With the more dangerous automated defences taken out, the Militant squad easily falls victim to a hail of AGR-28 fire, with the Confessor squad leader receiving a special treatment in the form of a psionic mind blast.

'Still no yellow card, mon... alright I guess I'll look for the next room then...'

Suddenly, Tosh detects a powerful surge of psionic energy nearby; one that he is quite familiar with despite not encountering it for years until the moment when he had stepped into this building.

'Oh shit! I bet she's pretty close now. Even if I wish to stay and have a little chat, I don't think that sister would just stop and say hi. Best for me to get out of here before she catches me. Damn! I can never forget those crazy powers of hers.'

* * *

(Meanwhile... Level B2 Section 7A...)

BANG!

Nova lowers down her C20A after she has just taken out another ceiling camera. Now it should be safe for her to walk through... if not for one more complication.

Earlier, Nova had detected an array of mini-turrets hidden underneath the floor using her psionic radar. There are too many of them for her to use her E-11 lockdown devices, and the rest of her weapons lack sufficient firepower to let her force her way through. She can try to blast her way through with a high-powered psi-induced explosion, but that would drain a lot of her powers and would cause too much unnecessary collateral damage, which may draw in more enemies and bring further complications to this mission in the future.

'Dammit! What should I do?'

Just then, Nova detects the approach of several more Nod soldiers approaching towards her. The heavy footsteps have indicated the incoming hostiles to be heavy infantries. Nova quickly hides around a wall corner and takes a peek so that she can know what she is going to handle next. This time, the enemy turns out to be a squad of those robed heavy flamethrowers.

Suddenly, Nova thinks up of a plan on how to get past this section.

* * *

The squad of Black Hands are on a high lookout for their hidden enemy. The last presence of the Ghost intruder was captured in this area before the cameras went blind. Now, the Black Hands are pretty sure that the Ghost must be still lurking around here somewhere. Even if the Ghost has cloaked herself, the advanced sensors installed in the mini pop-up turrets in this room would transmit the Ghost's location to their visors if the Ghost has stepped into the sensors range. With numbers on their side, the Black Hands are confident that they can toast the Ghost intruder this time.

Suddenly, one of the Black Hands spots a green bottle-shaped item flying towards them. To their horror, the squad of Nod battle priests realise that the bottle-shaped item is no other than a hallucinogen grenade commonly utilised by the Confessors.

"A hallucinogen grenade! Fall back, brothers! Fall back..."

Unfortunately, the warning comes a little bit too late. In an instant, the green bottle smashes onto a floor region surrounded by the Black Hands. A yellowish green mist-like gas is spilt and released around the squad.

In seconds after the Black Hands are exposed to the released hallucinogen gas, the whole squad starts to 'get mad'. Usually, combat helmets of Nod soldiers contain rebreathers that not just protect their wearers from breathing in biochemical agents while allowing them to fight efficiently in low oxygen conditions, they also protect them from accidental inhalation of their own biochemical weapons such as hallucinogen grenades. However, in this case, even the rebreathers are unable to filter off the high amounts of foreign gases during a direct exposure. As a result, the Black Hands fall victim to the full effects of the hallucinogens.

"Death to the enemies of Kane!"

"Purge the unclean!"

The hysteric heavily armoured priests begin to spray their flames against one another in their exalted state of mind. Although the Black Hand flame hazard heavy power suits provide adequate protection against their own flames, the continuous exposure to the purifying blue flames will still eventually melt them down. While the crazed Black Hands are busy trying to burn down one another, the hidden pop-up mini-turrets have registered the drugged Black Hands as hostile threats and begin to pop out from beneath the ground to engage the newly registered hostiles. Shredder Turrets pump fragmentation slugs into the Black Hands body, spilling blood across the floor; Laser Turrets fire beams of laser right through the Black Hands heavy armour, toasting the robed soldiers from the inside out.

In the midst of chaos, the Black Hands decide to turn their attentions to the turrets. Under the influence of their drugged minds, the black clad battle priests mistake the turrets as hostile units as they turn their flamethrowers towards the turrets. The intense blue purifying flames make short work out of the lightly armoured pop-up turrets, reducing them into molten scraps in seconds. However, there are just too many of them and too few Black Hands left to scorch down all the turrets. In the end, the last Black Hand falls as a Laser Turret shoots a beam right into his chest.

With the last registered hostiles eliminated, the few remaining turrets begin to retreat back into their standby position underneath the floor. However, before they can do so, several gunshots are heard, and the next thing that occurs is that all the mini-turrets have taken hits from their mysterious assailant.

Detecting that they themselves have taken damage, the turrets swivel around in search of the mysterious assailant. However, what the artificial intelligence installed in these machines are unaware of is that their mysterious assailant has cleverly positioned herself just beyond the range of their sensors and had been sniping at the turrets from long range using her C20A canister rifle.

With the turrets already popped out and exposed, Nova has no problems shooting at them at long range without getting into harm's way. By resuming fire upon them, the Dominion special agent ensures that the turrets' artificial intelligence will always remain in engaged mode and will not retreat back beneath the floor again, where they will be out of the Ghost's reach.

Nova's plan has worked very well. The enemy Black Hands earlier had performed well as distraction and bait to lure the turrets out from their hiding. To add icing to the cake, the enemy heavy flamethrowers had even reduced the number of turrets by about half before going down. This had allowed Nova to decide to engage the remaining turrets directly from long range after the Ghost had calculated that she had enough C20A ammunitions to finish all of them off. In about a minute later, the last turret collapses onto the metal floor; severed in the mid section by multiple high calibre sniper shots in the same spot.

Nova scans her surrounding before she is sure that all hostiles in the area have been eliminated. She approaches the corpse of one of the Black Hands to rummage for anything useful. Sadly, the Purifier flamethrowers used by the robed warriors are too big and unwieldy for the slim-built young woman to carry. Still, the Ghost manages to find something useful for her mission... very useful...

'A Yellow Security Clearance Card! Hmm... definitely going to need it to assess the more sensitive sections of this building.' The blonde thinks as she keeps the card in one of her suit's compartments.

* * *

(Meanwhile... Level B2 Section 6A...)

Gabriel Tosh rummages for items and ammunitions through the corpses of several dead Militants, Devouts and even a few Confessors and Black Hands that he has just shot to death the moment when he just entered in this room. The Spectre picks up a few gauss rifle rounds, fragmentation grenades, hallucinogen grenades, Holy Water grenades and most importantly, a Yellow Security Clearance Card from a slain Black Hand.

'Bingo!'

With the required security clearance card found, Tosh heads for the armoury in Section 5. Before he leaves the room though, the black and red clad Spectre flicks out his favourite balisong and stabs a fallen Confessor right into the armour chink at the back of the neck. The Confessor, who has been trying to play possum in hope of catching the Spectre off guard, jerks in a sudden jolt as the bladed weapon pierces through his spine and ruptures the carotid artery, before lying flat still on the floor, dead for real this time.

With the last enemy in the room slain, Gabriel pulls out his balisong, giving it a few flicks to flick the blood away, before sheathing it into one of his suit's compartments as he heads towards Section 5.

* * *

(10 minutes later... Level B2 Section 5 Armoury...)

The gate of the armoury chamber opens as Gabriel Tosh steps in with his AGR-28 assault gauss rifle poised and ready. The Spectre scans his surrounding in search of enemy presence, in which surprisingly there is none.

"Hmm... what a surprise that there are no guards in here... oh well better for me to start borrowing things..." Tosh comments as he begins to search the room for useful equipment. However, just when the mercenary thinks it is safe for him to have the liberty to take things away from this armoury, an alarm has been sounded.

"_Siren... _WARNING! UNAUTHORISED ENTRY INTO LEVEL B2 ARMOURY DETECTED! DEPLOYING CYBERNETIC UNITS INTO LEVEL B2 ARMOURY TO ELIMINATE INTRUDER!"

"Damn! They found me! And they are sending clankers towards me! I gotta make this quick!"

Knowing that he is running short of time, Tosh quickly skims through the armoury to analyse what are the items available in this room and which ones are worth taking. There may be a lot of equipment available, but the Spectre knows that it is impossible and not practical for him to take all of them. He has to make his selections right and fast, because he will not be returning back to this room when the enemy has been made aware that their armoury has been looted.

'Let's see now... firstly the power suits are definitely all out! There are lots of old pulse rifles and their ammunitions... there may be more than enough of them for me to finish this entire task alone, but their crappy firepower just makes them plain useless against the heavily armoured Noddie elite goons unless I shoot them at the right spot... ah forget it! Next... twin-barrelled rocket launchers... good I need more of them to blast those irritating turrets... I'll take them! Next... grenade launchers... not much useful in indoors compared to outdoors... and I prefer tossing... so that's out! Next... grenades... there are frags, fire beer bottles, oily bottles and... oh yeah... the hallucinating grenades... I'll take them all! Next... timed charges... never knew they got some of those... alright I'll take a few of them in case things get ugly. Next...'

Gabriel comes across a set of gauss rifles that look like the C-14 Impaler models commonly used by the Marine Corp, but slightly heavier and with slightly different looks. They are the primary weapons used by Nod Confessors.

'Those guns look just like buffed up versions of C-14 rifles used by the Marine boys... must be the guns that the coneheads used. I'd seen some of them in action... and they ain't bad. Though not as good as my AGR-28, they are close enough and since there's so many of them and their ammunitions lying around... alright!' With his decision made, Tosh tosses his near depleted AGR-28 and grabs one of the heavy gauss rifles from the rifle stands as well as a number of ammunitions.

Happy with his new toy, the white eyed Spectre slings his newly acquired C-1X heavy gauss rifle over across his shoulder as he walks towards the far end of the armoury. There, the Spectre finds an array of robed black and red Black Hand heavy power suit arranged in a neat single file. Next to the array of Black Hand armour, a set of Purifier flamethrowers have been laid neatly along an arms rack.

'Flamethrowers baby... too bad they look too heavy to carry around for fun. I already got one big mother f**ka heavy gauss rifle... no more space to carry another big f**king flamethrower. Although more of these oily bottles would be nice...'

As Tosh picks up more of the Holy Water grenades, the Spectre suddenly senses a powerful presence heading towards his direction... fast. It is the presence that Tosh had been trying to avoid all the time. Sadly, it seems that the origin of that psionic presence is just a few walks away from the armoury, meaning that escape would be too late and an encounter would be inevitable.

'Damn! I should have made this quick! Never expect that sister to have reached here and found me so quickly...' Tosh curses in his mind as he prepares for the inevitable.

The dark clad Spectre rushes towards the armoury gate with timed C4 charges ready, intending to booby trap the gate and hoping to either catch the coming opponent off guard or slow her down so that he can make more preparations for the showdown. As Tosh reaches the gate, he hastily sets up a few C4 charges onto the sliding gate door, which are rigged to blow up when the gate has been opened. Satisfied with his work, the Spectre is about to set a few more charges elsewhere across the entire armoury chamber when instincts begin to scream at him to get away from the gate. The psionic mercenary trusts his instincts and immediately does so; just in time to avoid a violent explosion caused by the set charges triggered by a powerful psionic blast that bursts through the gate.

BOOOOOOOOMMM...

"WARNING: SECURITY BREACH IN LEVEL B2 ARMOURY DETECTED... ENEMY GHOST DETECTED..."

Shaking off the dizziness caused by the explosion shockwave, Tosh quickly gets back to his feet with his C-1X heavy gauss rifle ready. With lightning speed, the Spectre hoists up the looted rifle and fires off several rounds towards the massive smoking hole in the wall where the armoury gate used to be. His action is soon answered by several returning sniper rounds from the other end of the hole. Tosh has to quickly duck behind a row of standing unused Devout combat suits to avoid getting shot.

"Damn! You almost got me, sister! Looks like you have yet to lose your touch, sweetie." The Spectre remarks.

"Tosh..." the reply comes as a slender feminine figure steps through the smoking hole, revealing a blonde female Ghost in blue and white hazard suit with a C20A canister rifle in her arms. Nova has arrived; and she has finally found Gabriel Tosh, one who has somehow evaded from her for so many years.

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Beauty, beast and machine

Ex-lovers are reunited, on opposing sides. While Nova Terra is going to apprehend the rogue Spectre with any means necessary, Gabriel Tosh is going to use all his tricks to avoid getting captured by the Dominion Ghost else his plans for raising a Spectre army will be brought to naught. However, unknown to both psionic super soldiers, they will not have the time and luxury to confront with each other solely; the Nod guards in the Main Broadcast Station is about to unleash their most fearsome warrior against the intruders.

* * *

(1) These mini pop-up turret are like the Tiberium Sun's Nod Laser Turrets as shown in cinematic cutscenes.

(2) Shredder turrets are the same individual Shredder turrets in Tib Wars.

* * *

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: AGR-14 assault gauss rifle, C20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Frag grenades, Flash grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N), Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: AGR-28 assault gauss rifle -later switched to C-1X heavy gauss rifle(N), Twin dragon rocket launcher (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N), Frag grenades, Molotov cocktails (N), Holy Water grenades (N), Hallucinogen grenades (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: Confessor

Role: Anti-personnel squad leader and intelligence operatives

Armament: C-1X heavy gauss rifle; Hallucinogen grenade; Modified CMC Powered Combat Suit

Appearance: Similar to the TW3 Confessor and Confessor Cabal, with heavier and bulkier armour around the same standard as a Terran Marine CMC armour, with iconic tall conical shaped full face helmet with 4 red visors.

Confessors make up the backbone of the Order of the Black Hand. These religious figureheads are responsible for gathering information on their enemies for the Brotherhood of Nod mainly through counter-espionage and interrogation. Their main role, however, is to lead squads of lesser infantries, mainly lower trained Militants, into the heat of battle against their hated enemies. Not only do these battle priests inspire morale and courage to the less experienced foot soldiers with their hulking physique and large C-1X heavy gauss rifle, the Confessors also ensure discipline within the ranks and make sure that deserters, which are rare, are severely dealt with while it is made sure that every single disciples play their part in battle. Besides their heavy gauss rifles, Confessors are also equipped with hallucinogen grenades. Although these grenades are non-lethal, the yellowish green hallucinogenic gases produced by these grenades are known to induce almost realistic hallucinations to any hostile infantries that get exposed to such gases, causing them to fire upon their own allies in the midst of battle due to panic. The influence of such hallucinations is also known to cause heightened adrenaline rushes, increasing the attack power of affected hostiles and resulting in swifter death to their allies that get caught in the crossfire. Still, that will also make those affected enemies more dangerous if all their surrounding allies are already dead, forcing them to turn their aggression solely against the Brotherhood. Most Nod infantries have been issued with rebreathers in their armour to protect themselves against such gases, but the symptoms will still occur if a Nod infantry gets directly exposed to the gas if the grenade is thrown directly onto below their feet.

* * *

Black Hand vs. Firebat

The next battle, another one suggested by MegaAuthor and one that I also had planned to make, is the clash between the 2 types of hulking flame spewing heavy foot soldiers of Nod and Terran forces. Whose flame will burn down its foe first?

**Black Hand:**

Black Hands are the military police forces of the Brotherhood of Nod. These elites of the Order of the Black Hand are adorned with Black Hand flame hazard heavy power suits that are more than capable of protecting their wearers from most light firearms and environmental hazards, including their own flames. The Purifier flamethrowers utilised by the Black Hands spew off a continuous stream of flames at their targets, incinerating the area overtime even if the Black Hands have switched target. Multiple Black Hands can overlap their flames to create a devastating firestorm; one that can even melt down entire tanks and burn down any structures within seconds. Black Hands are trained to use their flamethrowers in close combat against multiple foes with unmatched efficiency, burning down rows of rushing Zerglings, repelling charging Zealots, purging mobs of unfriendly Terran militia and even incinerating entire fortified Bunkers with Marines still inside. Black Hands can even increase their deadliness by receiving upgrades such as the even more destructive blue purifying flames or equipping with Holy Water grenades. Blue purifying flames provide a significant boost in firepower to the Black Hand's offensive prowess, while Holy Water grenades douse the unfortunate targets with a cocktail of flammable substance which can further amplify the damage dealt to the targets by the flames. However, the purifying flames of the Black Hands are still relatively weak when faced against a heavily armoured foe, unless a massive firestorm is created. The Purifier flamethrowers also do not have the range to combat aerial threats like all other flamethrowers. Out of all of the infantry types of the Brotherhood, Black Hands are one of the most loyal and disciplined fighting forces in the Brotherhood of Nod. These caped crusaders are known to fight till death and never retreat even under overwhelming odds.

**Firebat:**

The modern Firebats are now adorned in the 2nd generation CMC-660 heavy combat suits, which are heavier, more durable and far more fire resistant than other CMC powered combat suit models. Firebats from most modern Terran factions, including the Terran Dominion, are armed with dual wrist-mounted Perdition flamethrowers, which unlike the Black Hand's Purifier flamethrowers, spew destructive flames in short but explosive bursts. The latest generations of Firebats can also be equipped with incinerator gauntlets, which channel plasma fuel of the Perdition flamethrowers through multiple ports rather than a single port, allowing the Firebats to unleash bursts of flames at a wider area without losing intensity. With their heavy armour and wide-area effect flame attacks, Firebats excel in combating close range Zerg rushes as well as providing close up fire support for Marines when dealing with hostiles at close range, such as Zealot rushes. Like their Marine and Marauder cousins, Firebats have stim-packs installed in their combat suits, allowing Firebats to gain a temporary boost in their speed, reflexes, firepower and aggression during combat with the cost of a bit of the Firebats' own health. Some Firebats also have their armour upgraded with Juggernaught plating in their armour to protect the weak points and thicken the head and chest plates. While tougher and more durable than standard Marines, Firebats are slower in speed due to their heavier armour and their flamethrowers are ineffective in combating more heavily armoured targets as well as aerial threats. Like most Marines, Firebats are mostly recruited from neural resocialised hardened criminals, in which in this case most of them used to be or are still psychotic pyromaniacs.

**Comparison:**

Both types of infantries are very heavily armoured and highly resistant to flame; although with Juggernaught plating upgrade, Firebats are slightly tougher and more durable than the Black Hands. The main difference between the 2 heavy infantries is how they attack; a Black Hand spray his flame through a single nozzle in a continuous stream, dealing tremendous amount of damage overtime; while a Firebat spray his flames in wide area short bursts through multiple nozzles, dealing a large amount of damage in a short period of time. In other words, Firebats can unleash higher damage per attack in wider splash damage area, but Black Hands can deal a higher overall damage overtime. With purifying flames upgrade, Black Hands can even unleash a heavier damage.

If a Black Hand has received upgrades such as purifying flames and Holy Water grenades, a combination of Holy Water grenade and higher damage purifying flames may result in the Black Hand's firepower exceeding that of a Firebat. However, a Firebat may be able to regain his lead by activating his stim-pack. If both types of infantries are locked in a group battle, the wider area splash damage dealt by Firebats will give them an edge; but Black Hands in numbers can also unleash a massive firestorm to counter the Firebats' wide area of effect damage.

Like all Brotherhood of Nod foot soldiers, Black Hands are highly loyal to Kane and the Brotherhood's cause. Although more aggressive and extreme compared to other Nod infantry types, Black Hands are highly disciplined and obedient and would follow any orders given by their superiors all the way through without questions, even if those orders are suicidal. On the other hand, Firebat ranks are mostly made up of neural resocialised mentally deranged arsonists. Added with stim-packs, a Firebat's aggression is no less than that of a Black Hand's. However, that would mean that these mini walking flame tanks are also very difficult to train and discipline, probably one of the reasons why the Terran Dominion has hardly trained anymore Firebats.

Black Hand's edge:

Speed

Higher damage overtime

Higher damage output with purifying flame upgrade

Holy Water grenade

Groups can create firestorms

Loyalty and discipline

Urban combat

Firebat's edge:

Higher durability with Juggernaught plating upgrade

Wider area of effect damage

Higher damage output per attack

Stim-pack

**Conclusion**

Black Hand wins if:

In an urban combat scenario, Black Hands will enjoy a significant advantage over their Firebat foes. Unlike Nod infantries, Firebats are not trained to clear garrisoned structures by spraying their flames directly into firing ports, a technique that the Black Hands excel in. On the other hand, even if Firebats are to garrison themselves within Bunkers or civilian structures, Black Hands have no problem cooking them out by spraying their Purifier flamethrower directly into the structure through windows or firing ports. In a single one on one combat scenario, as long as the enemy Firebat does not use his stim-pack, the Black Hand will eventually outlast his Firebat foe with a combination of Holy Water grenade and his flamethrower, which continuous flame would deal a higher overall damage compared to the Firebat. In a group battle scenario, a combination of Holy Water grenades and firestorm would also ensure victory for the robed battle priests.

Firebat wins if:

In a one on one or small group battle scenario, Firebats can win if they use their stim-packs, dealing short bursts of higher damage to their Black Hand foes and finish the fight faster before the continuous stream of Purifier flamethrower flames can outdo the short bursts of explosive twin Perdition flamethrower flames. The slightly heavier armour of Firebats would mean that the Firebat would have a higher chance of outlasting a Black Hand in a straight battle. In a large group battle, as long as the Black Hands do not use Holy Water grenades or create firestorm, the wider area of effect damage of the Firebats would ensure that the groups of Black Hands will fall faster than the groups of Firebats. If the Firebats use their stim-packs in the midst of battle, their combined firepower would be able to match those of a firestorm created by multiple Black Hands.

* * *

I would say that the match between Black Hands and Firebats would be a pretty close fight. Both are heavily armoured and resistant to flames, and both have their own methods of vastly increasing their firepower (stim-pack vs firestorm and Holy Water grenade combination). I guess it would have to depend on who have the better upgrades at the time of battle and who could use their abilities at the right time.

I am now close to my graduation from my university, so these few months I will be spending more time on doing job searches and researches on the different career paths that I can take. This means that I would have less time writing and updates would be even slower. Still, I will not give up this story even if I have gotten myself an actual job and I will try to update as fast as I can.


	26. Act 25: Battle for Bhekar Ro:Beauty,Beas

Yeah, I know that everyone's mad for lack of updates for months, and I apologise for that. Being in the final year of the my university curriculum is pretty stressful, and I admit that I have been distracted from writing by a lot of things. Besides all the projects, assignments, datelines and career searches, I have also recently joined an NGO, so my available free time is pretty little now.

Regardless of my rant, now on with the show!

To Numbuh six-sixtysix: Yeah, I agree with you.

To Lost Guy: Thanks for liking this story. As for your suggestions, I will put them into considerations. Chem Troopers will make an appearance, but they will be having a different name. As for the Awakened, maybe not so fast yet; the Brotherhood already had enough types of anti-personnel infantries, so I don't think there's a need to add in Awakened into the lot right now.

To megafan: Thanks for the info. I'll keep that in mind.

To Warmach1ne32: Well, I've updated, so that means I'm still alive... right?

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

ENEMY COMMANDO DETECTED!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

Before we start, here's a brief review on Nova and Tosh's equipments so far...

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: AGR-14 assault gauss rifle, C20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Frag grenades, Flash grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N), Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast, Nuke (currently disabled)

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: C-1X heavy gauss rifle(N), Twin dragon rocket launcher (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N), Frag grenades, Molotov cocktails (N), Holy Water grenades (N), Hallucinogen grenades (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

**ACT 25: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: BEAUTY, BEAST AND MACHINE**

(Nod Bhekar Ro Base no. 10... Main Broadcast Station... Level B2 Armoury...)

"Tosh..."

The sparkling green eyes of Nova Terra stared intensively at the clouded white eyes of Gabriel Tosh, who was standing just several metres away from the Dominion Ghost agent, separated by several fallen furniture and blast debris caused by the earlier psionic explosion. Both super soldiers appeared to be calm and collected as the two eyed at each other, but in their minds, the reunion was other than mundane.

"No time no see, sister. What a coincidence to meet here even when we're serving different bosses, isn't it, huh?" Tosh stated, with his eyes remained fixed to the Ghost's, as he slowly slipped his hand to his back to retrieve his 'borrowed' C-1X heavy gauss rifle.

"Indeed... I can barely recognise your face... not until I detect your psionic signature..." Nova replied, as she calmly loaded a couple of EMP rounds into her C20A canister rifle while she remained alert of Tosh's movements.

"Barely recognise my face? More like you can't remember how I even look like because of those damned memory wipes! How many of those wipes have you taken since I left?"

"I don't have to answer that, traitor! What are you doing here?"

"Me, a traitor? Let me get this straight, sister, me and my buddies did not betray Mengsk... it is Mengsk who had betrayed us! That old bastard put us into his secret science project and when he found out that we were too powerful for his liking, he planned to put us down! That crook betrayed us first!"

"You Spectres have been too unstable and bloodthirsty. What Mengsk did is justified; you Spectres are a serious threat to the safety of the Dominion and have to be either quarantined or eliminated! We gave you to the choice to surrender so that we can try to correct you; but you and your men chose to rebel."

"And why shouldn't we? Look at what happened to those who did... and those you caught? All of them are still rotting in New Folsom, and for what; just because Mengsk labelled them as being psychotic? Mengsk is a cold-hearted dictator, sister, and I advise you to leave Mengsk before he starts to give you the same treatment as he did to me."

"I do not take words from a traitor. So tell me, what are you doing here, Tosh, aiding the Brotherhood of Nod in their acts of terrorism?" Nova asked, as she slowly hoisted up her loaded C20A canister rifle and aimed at the Spectre in front of her.

"Me? Aiding those Noddies? Ya know, that may not be a bad idea. Too bad you get it wrong. You see, I did find myself a more trustworthy business partner before I even knew those Noddies even existed. His army may not be as grand as those Noddies, but at least he's got a more notorious reputation than them. I'm just doing a certain favour for him before you bumped into me." Tosh replied, with his hands already firmly gripping onto the C-1X heavy gauss rifle on his back.

"A business partner? Let me guess; is he James Raynor?"

"Oh, you knew? I see... you must be the one who sent that anonymous transmission to tell Raynor about Project: Shadowblade. I was right; that message was sent by you to break us apart. So now you know what I'm doing here, sister, how about you? Don't tell me you have tracked me all the way here? Damn you're persistent, sister!"

"My mission is classified, traitor, but I do need to say; apprehending you is a secondary objective, which is what I'm trying to achieve now. Gabriel Tosh, you are hereby under arrest for desertion of Dominion ranks, instigating a revolt, piracy, theft, kidnapping and multiple counts of murders of loyal Dominion agents. Drop your arms and surrender yourself, or I'll use lethal force to execute you on the spot immediately!"

Tosh stared at the blonde Ghost in front of him, who had a C20A hoisted up and aimed at him. The Spectre found it hard to believe that the beautiful but deadly young woman in front of him, who was now threatening to kill him, used to be his lover back at the Ghost Academy. It seemed that the memory wipes used by the Dominion Ghost Program must had screwed her mind a lot.

"Alright, alright! I'll give up, sister. Just let me drop my rifle first."

Upon hearing Tosh's reply, Nova was about to relax her guard at first. However, her sharp psionic mind quickly picked up thoughts from the Spectre which stated otherwise. Immediately, Nova fired 2 EMP rounds at Tosh... just before Tosh had fully brandished out the C-1X, turned off its safety lock and held it in firing position.

Tosh was about to fire off his 'borrowed' gun when he noticed the 2 incoming EMP rounds. Knowing that those EMP rounds would not only short-circuit and disable his gadgets, the generated EMP field could also screw his own 'voodoo powers', the Spectre had no choice but to dodge. Leaping off and rolling towards his right, Tosh narrowly missed the EMP field discharged by the 2 EMP rounds. After another quick successive roll, the Spectre was on a kneeling position, with his C-1X positioned to fire.

Realising an EMP assault had failed, Nova was about to reload her C20A canister rifle with conventional rounds when she noticed that Tosh was back to his firing position. This time, it was the Ghost's turn to dodge, as the blonde quickly darted towards a large metal modular crate. She quickly take cover behind the large metal crate, before a hail of heavy gauss rifle barrage made dozens of puncturing holes at the spot where she was standing on just a second ago. Hiding safely behind the crate, Nova reloaded her C20A and began to wait patiently for an opening to counterattack.

Tosh fired several bursts of heavy gauss rifle fire at the metal crate before realising that he could not hurt the Ghost if she remained hidden behind the crate. Having known that blonde Ghost and even fought alongside with her before, Tosh knew that his ex-lover was now planning for a counterattack and was waiting patiently for him to empty his heavy gauss rifle magazine before she would spring out of cover to snipe him back with her canister rifle. He had to flush her out of her cover fast before the Ghost could make anymore dastardly plans. After firing another burst of fire at the crate where the blonde was hiding behind, Tosh reached out to his utility belt and grabbed an attached Holy Water grenade. The Spectre threw the 'oily bottle' towards the metal crate, before quickly reaching out and grabbing a Molotov cocktail. At the same time when the Holy Water grenade smashed onto the crate and released its flammable load, Tosh had lighted up the Molotov cocktail with superhuman speed and had proceeded to throw the 'fire beer bottle' towards the same spot where the 'oily bottle' had landed earlier. In an instant, a huge blaze had started, which quickly burned intensely on the metal crate.

Nova heard the sound of a smashing bottle against the metal crate which she had been hiding behind when she detected an ominous intention coming from her Spectre foe. The blonde took a quick peek out of her cover just in time to see a lit Molotov cocktail heading her way. Thinking quick, the Ghost leapt out of her cover just in time to avoid a small inferno from incinerating her. At the same time, she quickly took out a flash grenade, unplugged the safety pin and tossed it towards the white-eyed Spectre as she dashed out of cover.

Shortly after tossing the Molotov cocktail towards his Ghost opponent, Tosh could see the yellow, blue and white blur dashing out of the metal crate before the Molotov cocktail started a blazing fire around the crate due to the flame amplification effect of the Holy Water grenade thrown there earlier. The Spectre was about to seize his chance to open fire upon his ex-lover now turned enemy, until he noticed the flash grenade thrown right towards his face.

'Oh shit...'

The Spectre quickly turned his head and looked away from the flash grenade, while shielding his face with the C-1X heavy gauss rifle in his hands. In an instant, the dark armoury chamber had been brightly lit up by a blinding flash, almost blinding the white-eyed super soldier. Fortunately by looking away and shielding his face with his gun just in time before the flash came up, the blindness and disorientation only lasted for a few seconds for Tosh.

Tosh quickly rubbed his eyes to get rid of the disorientation, before turning back his head to find that Nova had disappeared again. Due to the earlier flash, the Spectre could not pinpoint where the Ghost had now hidden.

'Damn! Where did that sister go? Better be on the defensive first before she takes me by surprise...'

With that in mind, Tosh channelled his own psionic power and put up a psionic shield around himself. The dome of psionic energy barrier covered the Spectre's entire body, protecting the Spectre in case if Nova, who had hidden herself somewhere in the armoury chamber, tried to ambush him when he's in a vulnerable position.

Meanwhile, Nova was hiding behind another pile of metal crates, which she had reached there under cover of the flash grenade. Before the blonde Ghost was about to shoot at the unwary Spectre with her C20A, she noticed the spike in psionic energy originating from her foe. Then, her enhanced psionic senses detected that a layer of dense psionic energy had enclosed Tosh in the form of a dome barrier.

'A psionic shield? Very clever, Tosh... but not clever enough!'

Nova loaded another EMP round into her C20A canister rifle, before firing the round at the Spectre on guard. Before Tosh knew what hit him, the EMP round hit its mark, releasing a small EMP field that not only knocked out most of the Spectre's electronic equipment, but also disrupted the Spectre's psionic energy flow. This meant that Tosh's psionic shield would no longer be up anymore.

Tosh felt his 'voodoo senses' jumbling up due to the effect of the EMP round. Then, he found himself being visible to the naked eye, due to the failing cloaking module in his suit. At the same time, the dreadlock headed Spectre felt the shield that he had just set up began to dissipate.

'Damn that woman!' Tosh mentally cursed as he found himself in an extremely disadvantage position. With his electronic equipment short-circuited and his senses messed up, Tosh knew that he was now vulnerable to the Ghost's merciless assault.

Still, the shrewd mercenary's sharp mind was able to deduct from which direction did the EMP round came from, and hence where Nova could be hiding.

'There!' Tosh took out a frag grenade and was about to pull off the safety pin before throwing towards the pile of crates where Nova was hiding behind. However, the Spectre did not anticipate a follow-up attack by the blonde Ghost.

"Oomph!" Tosh was suddenly pushed back by a powerful blast of pure psionic energy, courtesy of Nova's psi blast. The Spectre was forcefully thrown into a nearby supply pile, spilling debris and small items all over the place. Tosh lied there, seemingly motionless.

'I have you now!' Nova smirked confidently, seeing Tosh's prone form. The Ghost had her C20A already hoisted up, with her target sight locked on the Spectre's head. However, before the blonde could push the trigger, her vision was suddenly clouded by a mist of yellowish green gas. Alarmed, the Ghost looked down to find the source of the mist, which was an ignited hallucinogen grenade close to her right foot, mixed among the scattered debris. Immediately after the exposure to the hallucinogen, Nova felt a sense of giddiness and nausea. Her vision began to blur and her concentration waned, unable to properly aim at the prone Spectre in front of her anymore.

'Darn! Never expect that traitor to have thrown that drug grenade in the midst of his fall... I must get rid of the drug effects before he escapes!'

Nova shook her head vigorously while channelling her psionic powers throughout her body to purge the hallucinogens that she had inhaled. It only took seconds for the elite Ghost to get rid of the hallucinations plaguing in her mind. However, in these precious seconds, it allowed the knocked back Spectre to recover and hide.

When Nova's vision had finally cleared, the Ghost had found her target missing. Before she could focus her mind and locate the rogue agent through her psionic radar, Nova saw another grenade flying straight towards her, a hallucinogen grenade to be exact. This time, the Ghost was prepared as she quickly rolled back a few metres away from the projectile, barely missing the yellowish green misty gas released from the activated grenade. However, just when Nova thought that she was safe, she suddenly heard 2 loud firing shots that did not sound like any conventional arms she had heard before. The blonde turned towards the source of the sound, only to be shocked to find 2 rocket projectiles shooting straight towards her. Knowing that she could not dodge the rockets in time, Nova fired out a devastating psi blast straight towards the rockets out of desperation. The blast of psionic energy did its work, as both rocket projectiles were intercepted before they could hit their marks.

"Not bad, sister. Obviously you haven't lost your touch..." Tosh's voice echoed across the smoke-filled armoury chamber, "Still, that blast must have taken a lot out of you. Ya sure ya still wanna get me in that condition?"

Nova knelt down as she panted heavily. True to Tosh's words, she did use up a huge amount of psionic energy to launch that psi blast earlier. Added with her ordeals earlier in the day before and during infiltration into this facility, Nova barely had enough energy left in her reserves. Despite the Moebius reactor running non-stop in her augmented suit, the Ghost now had barely enough reserve to fire an energy-costly EMP round.

"Nice try, traitor, but you'll have to try better to bluff me away like that. In case if you haven't forgotten, I did disable you and your equipments earlier with an EMP round. Your current condition is no better than mine." Nova replied.

"You're right, sister! That EMP buzzer of yours did make a number on me. Right now, I only had just enough juice to keep my cloaking up running again. But I can still beat you here, so why I don't you give up and go home?" Tosh taunted.

"I won't lose to the likes of you, traitor!"

"Really? You seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with, sister."

"I know who I'm dealing with, traitor! You're one of the last remaining results of the failed Project: Shadowblade. You're a Spectre, a former Ghost psionically enhanced using terrazine gas with jorium as terrazine stabiliser, before activation using a Psionic Waveform Indoctrinator. As a Spectre, you have enhanced psionic powers that are more powerful than those of a normal Ghost's. The hostile environment hazard suit that you have received as a Spectre before your desertion gives you a greater boost to strength and agility than my suit."

"That's right, sister. In other words, I am better than you in all ways. There is a reason why all those Mengsk's foolish lackeys had failed to catch me. It's not because they can't find me... it's because they can't beat me. Your only chance of catching me is with that crazy high powers that you have in you... and now you don't have enough of them anymore, so this is your loss, sister."

"Not really, traitor. I did capture many of your brethrens without having to use my psionic powers. You won't be any difference."

"We'll see..."

* * *

(Meanwhile... Level 6 Main Broadcast Studio...)

The entire command room was in a panic, and there was a good reason why. Hours earlier, the entire commanding crew in the room had known that at least two enemy psionic special agents had infiltrated into this facility. Both agents had proven themselves to be formidable foes, definitely elites that could have the capability to wipe out an entire chain of operations if they could infiltrate even further. All attempts to halt their advance had failed miserably; internal defence turret systems had been outsmarted and destroyed, while security troops deployed to the scene were all slain to the last man. In the end, not only did they fail to stop the enemy agents, they had lost nearly a hundred men in the attempt, with dozens among them being irreplaceable elites of the Order of the Black Hand, Shadow Warriors and cyborg warriors.

"Archdeacon sir, both enemy agents had been last tracked in our Level B2 armoury." A younger Confessor reported to Archdeacon Ricardo, the commanding officer in this entire vicinity of Nod Bhekar Ro Base no. 10, and this facility. The bald, one-eyed Black Hand senior officer turned his head away from the battlefield control panel and listened attentively to what the Confessor had to say.

"And... we aren't sure what'd happened in there, but we'd tracked several explosions occurring within the chamber. We are positive that the cyborg troops deployed to neutralise the two threats had not reached the chamber yet, but the pattern of the explosions suggests that there's been a battle occurring inside the armoury, rather than a set of well-placed charges being set off as we have initially thought."

Ricardo raised his left eyebrow with intrigue when he heard the report, 'Interesting! If the cyborgs have not reached the battlefront yet, then who's fighting inside the armoury. Could it be...'

"LEGION, run me the footages of both intruders again." Ricardo requested.

"ACKNOWLEDGED!" the Nod AI replied, and began playing the replay footages of both Terran psionic agents that had been captured by the facility's security cameras before they went offline.

Ricardo replayed the footages again and again for several minutes, before he realised something interesting about the two intruders in this facility.

"The 1st intruder that invaded through Level B6 Section 7B is a female dressed in a white and blue hazard environment suit, armed primarily with an assault gauss rifle and a sniper rifle. The 2nd intruder, who had invaded 15 minutes later through Level B3 Section 2A, is a male dressed in a black and red hazard environment suit, armed primarily with an assault gauss rifle. The two invaders have vastly different dress code." Ricardo commented.

"But archdeacon sir, what does that have to do with the explosions in the armoury sir?" a lower ranked officer asked.

"Fool! It matters a lot!" Ricardo reprimanded, "Dominion soldiers are highly disciplined compared to the bandits, pirates and mercenaries that our forces had fought against multiple times in our real-life combat training scenarios before our great prophet declared war against the Dominion. Each Dominion unit has its own strict dress code for its soldiers, meaning no preference of individual colours or decorations except for individual unit code number or merit decoration. For the two Ghost agents who have infiltrated into here, their distinctly different dress code suggests that at least one of them is not a Dominion agent."

"Are you suggesting that the two invaders can be enemies to each other, archdeacon sir?" another Confessor asked.

"Possible, judging by the intensity of the damages dealt to the armoury when none of our warriors have entered there, but we are still not sure." Ricardo replied.

"Then perhaps we should just leave them be." the same Confessor suggested, "Let those fools battle and kill each other while we'll just wait and pick off the remains after the battle."

"That's a good suggestion, confessor, but I believe it is best if we intercept them quickly before they can escape. We have no idea how long will their battle last, so there's a chance that one or both of them may escape if we wait for too long." Ricardo reminded, "LEGION, what is the strength of the cybernetic troops sent to the armoury right now?"

"I HAVE JUST DEPLOYED 4 ENLIGHTENED AND 4 SPIDERS TO CONFRONT THE INTRUDERS LOCATED IN THE LEVEL B2 ARMOURY, COMMANDER." the Nod AI replied.

"Delay their arrival for another minute; I want another additional 2 Enlightened and 2 Spiders to the scene. I also want to deploy Cyborg Commando no. 99 to deal with the intruders as well. Resume the pursuit when no. 99 has arrived."

"ACKNOWLEDGED!"

While LEGION was making preparations to activate and deploy the additional troops as ordered by Archdeacon Ricardo, Ricardo himself was deep in thoughts.

'Hmm... we can assume that at least one of the intruder is a Dominion agent, judging by the matching dress code with the Dominion Ghost agent... the question is who is the other one? Where is he from? Who does he serve? Wait... if there's an agent from another faction lurking around here, does that mean that there's a base of operation from a 3rd faction lurking around here as well? I have to warn the others!'

"LEGION, order all other commanders across Bhekar Ro to stay alert and keep a sharp lookout for a possible presence of forces from a 3rd Terran faction in this planet. If there's another Ghost in this area and he's not working for the Terran Dominion, then there's a high possibility that there's another Terran faction present around or in this planet too." Ricardo commanded.

"AFFIRMATIVE, COMMANDER, TRANSMITTING MESSAGE TO ALL COMMANDERS IN BHEKAR RO..."

* * *

(Back in Level B2 Armoury...)

Nova and Tosh were currently just a few metres separated from each other; both were hiding behind cover and both were exhausted. Nova had yet recovered from the fatigue caused by her sudden release of huge psionic blasts in the earlier desperate defence; while Tosh was less tired, his energy reserves stored in his hostile environment suit had not yet fully recovered from the earlier EMP attack, restricting him from using many of his more powerful abilities.

'Damn! This fight is costing me too much time! I'm also running out of ammunition too! I have to end this quick before more Nod soldiers start to show up.' Nova cursed in her mind, as she silently activated her Psyblade while behind cover.

'I can tell that the sister is tired... but she still has lots of fight in her... damn I'm wasting too much time! Better end this quick before more of those Noddies return to finish us off.' Tosh had a similar thought in his mind, as he flicked out his balisong while behind his own cover.

As both agents were at close proximity with each other, both of them could read the thoughts of each other even when both sides had been making efforts to mask their thoughts. As a result, both combatants were aware of what their opponent had been thinking.

"I see... looks like we're thinking alike, sister." Tosh suddenly shouted during the stalemate, "Since that's the case, why not we wrap things up... right now!"

"With pleasure..." Nova replied.

In less than a second after the exchange of words, Nova and Tosh burst out from their cover and leapt straight towards each other with their melee weapons unsheathed.

Nova first tried a horizontal slash, intending to decapitate the bigger man with a quick single stroke. However, Tosh dodged the incoming attack by ducking low. Then the Spectre counterattacked by shoulder-tackling the smaller physique Ghost to the ground. With his opponent on the ground, Tosh was about to stab the Ghost with his balisong, but was forced to dodge out of the way when Nova countered back with another horizontal swing with her Psyblade. Seizing her chance, the Ghost quickly got back to her feet again and attempted a quick downward slash, hoping to cut off the burlier Spectre's leg. Tosh leapt out of the way just in a nick of time. Realising Nova's skills in utilising a Psyblade as a lethal close combat weapon, Tosh distanced himself slightly further away from the Ghost.

'Damn! That Psyblade is sure a badass weapon... it's like fighting a Protoss up close, except that Protoss is smaller but harder to hit!'

"What's the matter, traitor? Having cold feet?" Nova taunted.

"Nah... just thinking on how to ditch you in a smart way." Tosh countered.

The two combatants were about to clash in for a second round, when suddenly, loud metal footsteps could be heard, which were gradually getting louder to both agents.

"Drat! The Nod clankers were coming!" Tosh cursed, knowing that Nod cyborgs had responded to their presence in this armoury chamber. "I hope you're satisfied now, sister! Your persistence has drawn in the Noddies to our location. Now both of us are not gonna make it out alive."

"Big deal! You may be afraid to face them, traitor, but they are nothing more but just disposable trash to me. A few shots to their heads and they're down, half-machine or not." Nova remarked.

Just then, the footsteps got very loud, and soon enough, a dozen cyborgs appeared in front of the destroyed armoury gate; 6 Enlightened and 6 Spiders.

"Now that's a lot of clankers!" Tosh exclaimed.

"I have to admit; this is going to be quite a hassle." Nova stated.

As the two psionic agents faced against the dozen of cyborgs, the lead Enlightened spoke out in its monotonous voice,

"PRIMARY TARGETS DETECTED... INPUTTING COMMAND: TERMINATE PRIMARY TARG..."

Before the Enlightened could finish its words, its speech was cut short when its head was blasted into pieces, courtesy of Nova's quick drawing flak pistol.

With the 1st cyborg dispatched, Nova tried to finish off the rest of the cyborgs with the same method by shooting right into their heads with a few shots from her flak pistol. However, this time, the other cyborgs had reacted to the sudden counterattack. The 5 remaining Enlightened quickly converted their EMP cannons into energy shield generators and put them up to form a shield wall, shielding themselves and the slightly more fragile Spiders behind from the high calibre pistol rounds. At the same time, the Spiders fired off their MOLDS laser weapons at the psionic agents. The laser beams disperse into a web of laser fire as the beams prism across the whole chamber, grazing both agents.

"Damn! Look at what you've done, sister! You've pissed them off!" Tosh cursed.

"Shut up, traitor! I don't need your snide remarks to remind me what's going on here!" Nova retaliated, as she drew out her C20A canister rifle again and loaded several EMP rounds into the weapon. She then proceeded to fire those EMP rounds at the cyborg cluster. The EMP rounds struck home, just right in time before the Spiders were about to ensnare the psionic agent duo with their Spinneret Synthetic Web Spinner. The EMP rounds immediately took effect, disrupting the electronic circuits of the cyborgs, shutting down the energy shields and disabling their special weapons.

"Their shields are down! Finish them off before they restore their power!" Tosh shouted.

"You don't need to remind me on that!" Nova countered, as she fired several more sniper shots at the cyborgs, taking out 2 Spiders. However, before she could kill off more, the Enlightened and Spiders retaliated with their default weapons. The barrage of cannon and laser fire forced the agents to take cover again.

"Damn! Is that the best you can do, sister? You'd shut down their power, leaving them open and the best you can do is to put holes through their f**king heads? I thought you're better than this!"

"I don't care what you say, traitor; that's the best way to put those things down with the quickest amount of time."

"Oh yeah? I'll show you there's another way to finish them off, a more effective way I would say, sister." Tosh spoke as he took out 2 bottle-shaped grenades; a Molotov cocktail and a Holy Water grenade to be exact. Then, amidst the barrage, the Spectre swiftly threw the Holy Water grenade and the Molotov cocktail simultaneously towards the line of Nod cyborgs. The result was a small but fiery localised firestorm, with flames blazing around the cyborgs. An Enlightened and 2 more Spiders were taken out of action as a result. With their numbers being reduced by half, the remaining cyborgs tried to move out of the firestorm and regroup somewhere in the armoury where there was no fire. However, Tosh was still not done with them.

"Not bad, eh? But that's not all..." Tosh smirked with pride, as he resumed his assault against the retreating form of the Nod cyborg cluster. This time, he had the stolen Nod's Twin Dragon rocket launcher in his hands. The Spectre quickly aimed and locked on onto one of the retreating Enlightened, and fired the first rocket projectile. A second later, he repeated the sequence onto another Enlightened and fired the second rocket. Both rockets struck home at their respective targets simultaneously, taking another 2 more Enlightened out of action. "And that's the way how you destroy those clankers, in a kickass style!"

Nova did not respond to Tosh's show-off. Instead, while Tosh had taken out a large bulk of the cyborgs with the combination of firestorm and rockets, she had proceeded to take out the 2 last remaining Spiders with her canister rifle. Now 2 Enlightened were left; both underpowered and would be easier to pick off due to the smaller number now.

Tosh was quite annoyed that the Ghost did not seem to appreciate his efforts on thinning the number of enemy cyborgs. Still, he knew that he was quite fortunate that the pet of Mengsk did not choose to shoot him at his back when he was busy dealing with the half-man killing machines. Although both agents were still technically enemies, they had both shared the same idea that the Nod cyborgs were currently the bigger threat instead of each other. Now, with only 2 cyborgs remaining, Tosh was aware that the blonde Ghost might turn her attention towards him again. Maybe it is time for him to slip off now...

Or not...

Without warning, Tosh's heightened 'voodoo senses' detected a powerful psionic signature approaching his and Nova's location. The signature was very close, meaning that there was no way the Spectre could try to slip past the approaching unknown entity without getting discovered. Tosh was now getting worried; the strength of the psionic signature detected had suggested that the unknown have a very high PI level, about the same level of a high ranking Ghost.

Nova had also detected the approach of the unknown psionic figure. She too was worried of facing against an unknown threat that could be a case of a Nod psionic super soldier. The Ghost decided to try to peer into the mind of the unknown entity to try learn about the potential threat, since if the entity psionic level is so high, it should be easy for another powerful psionic individual like her to read its thoughts. However, the outcome had surprised her; for some reason, she could not understand the mind of the entity... at all! Strangely, it was not because the entity had used a psi screen to block off the effects of psionic powers from invading its mind, as that would appear as a blank in the Ghost's psionic radar; instead, Nova could only decipher a series of binary codes in the mind of the entity, as if she was reading the thoughts from a computer.

'What the hell is that? It's giving off a powerful psionic signature, yet its mind appears to be those of a computer's. Could that be...' Nova wondered.

As the entity got closer, heavy footsteps could be heard outside of the armoury chamber, suggesting that the entity could be heavily armed and armoured. It could also suggest another thing...

'That metal clanking footsteps... yet it coincides with the psionic signature coming right towards us... are you telling me that that... thing... coming towards us is a clanker?' Tosh thought as he started to piece up all the clues that all his senses had picked up.

The footsteps got louder and louder, until a heavy thud could be heard just outside the destroyed gate of the armoury chamber. Both Nova and Tosh took a peek at the entrance of the armoury chamber; they did not see anyone or anything, but their enhanced psionic senses did 'see' an outline of a large, heavily-built cyborg. The new cyborg appeared to be very heavily armoured, even more heavily armoured than the Enlightened. It had a large throne shaped reactor on its back, with a pincer-shaped weapon replacing its right hand while a tube-shaped weapon on its left. Its metallic digitigrades legs with exposed hydraulic pistons and electric circuits proved its identity of being a cybernetic soldier. From the first glance of the new cyborg, both Nova and Tosh instantly knew that this cyborg was going to be much different compared to those that they had encountered before.

"Damn! That's got to be the biggest clanker I've ever seen!" Tosh exclaimed.

"What's this? I can sense that cyborg through my psionic radar... but I can't see it! That thing can cloak?" Nova realised.

The green visor of the Cybernetic Commando no. 99 flashed ominously at the Ghost and Spectre pair. Then, it announced in its deep, monotonous robot-like voice, "PRIMARY TARGET ALPHA, BETA DETECTED... INPUTTING COMMAND: TERMINATE PRIMARY TARGET!"

"Watch out, sister, here it comes!" Tosh warned, just in time to avoid a line of laser fire from the Cyborg Commando's right hand Gladius laser cannon. Before the Spectre could recover and return back to the offensive, the voodoo fanatic was forced to duck away from another barrage of laser cannon fire.

'Curse my luck, that big clanker got a rapid-firing laser gun as its main weapon!' Tosh realised.

Meanwhile, as Tosh was under heavy fire from Cybernetic Commando no. 99, Nova thought it was the opportunity to strike at the new assailant. Although the blonde Dominion agent was tempted to shoot at the Spectre instead due to his current helpless position, Nova thought that it would be wiser to kill off the unknown enemy before it started to target her. She would rather temporarily side with an enemy that she knew, instead of one that she did not. The Ghost hoisted up her C20A canister rifle, took aim and fired several sniper rounds right towards the mechanised warrior's head. She was confident that these rounds should be enough to shut that robotic soldier offline.

To the Ghost's surprise, split seconds before the rounds could hit home, the Cyborg Commando reacted to the sneak attack by raising its armoured pincer-shaped gauntlet that covered its right arm, deflecting and blocking off the sniper rounds from hitting the more vulnerable head. From its action, it appeared as if the Cyborg Commando had felt the attack coming and reacted at bullet speed, a feat that would usually be observed in psionic soldiers such as Ghosts or Protoss, not in robots. The cybernetic super soldier glared menacingly at the blonde Ghost with its glowing green visor, before turning its full attention towards the Dominion agent.

"PRIMARY WEAPON SYSTEM DAMAGED... DAMAGE STATUS: MINOR... HOSTILE UNIT IDENTIFIED AS PRIMARY TARGET ALPHA... ANALYSING: TARGET CAPABLE OF DETECTING STEALTH... STEALTH ABILITY NEUTRALISED... INPUTTING COMMAND: DEACTIVATE LAZARUS SHIELD TO FREE OUT ENERGY RESERVE FOR A SUPER-CHARGED PLASMA CANNON STRIKE. MAINTAIN FIRE UPON PRIMARY TARGET ALPHA WHILE THE ENLIGHTENED WOULD ENGAGE PRIMARY TARGET BETA..." With its analysis made, Cyborg Commando no. 99 de-cloaked itself, revealing itself to all naked eyes of its massive, intimidating physique in heavy red armour. As it de-cloaked, it did not stop firing at Nova's position.

"Shit!" The blonde Ghost cursed as she ducked to the nearest cover to avoid a new barrage of laser fire from the aggressive Cyborg Commando. Hiding behind several metal crates, Nova reloaded her canister rifle, while thinking how she could reverse the situation.

Tosh felt that the onslaught which the enemy Cyborg Commando had unleashed earlier had suddenly stopped. Taking a peek out from a wall corner, the Spectre found out that the red armoured cyborg had been distracted by his former lover and had engaged with the Ghost. For Tosh, it seemed to be opportunity for him to either leave this room and get out of this mess... or to counterattack and destroy the hulking half-mechanical, half-biological menace while it was distracted. The Spectre was considering more of the former choice rather than the latter, but a small part in him wanted to save and help his former teammate. Sadly, before he could make his decision, he was forced on the defensive again, when the remaining 2 Enlightened cyborgs began to rain their 70mm Centurion cannons upon him.

Back to Nova, the situation still remained grim. With Cybernetic Commando no. 99 still continuously firing its rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon upon the blonde, Nova could not find an opening to counterattack, or even lob a grenade. The metal crates which the Ghost was using as cover were gradually melting under the relentless fire from the large cyborg. If this went on for another few more minutes, that cyborg could get her.

"_Yo sister, you hear me mon?"_ Suddenly, Nova heard a voice in her mind. Immediately, the Ghost identified the voice and knew that her initial secondary target was now communicating with her telepathically. The blonde looked at the direction where the Spectre was currently hiding, before she made an answer.

"_What do you want, crook? Are you trying to mock me about the situation?"_

"_Mock you? With that bigass clanker kicking both our asses around with its two remaining clanker goons, how would I have the time to rub you in the face? You know that you can't escape from here unscathed. I doubt if you can even be able to take down that big red by yourself either, even if its alone. Even if you can, you wouldn't have enough juice left to carry through the rest of whatever mission that old fox Mengsk had given to you, and not to mention... me!"_

"_Are you implying that you plan to pick up the pieces later? I'll make sure it won't be that easy for you, traitor!"_

"_Oh chill it, sister! I have no intention of fighting you at the first place mon. I don't even have time for that! I'm just here to help my big man find something that got stolen from him by those Noddies, and I'm not even sure if it's inside this building at all! Just looking for clues left and right... ya know. Besides, I know that not even I myself won't be able to get past that big red without getting real hurt. You should know what I mean, sister; if we want to get out of this place intact, we have to work together to take that bigass clanker and its two goons before more of them start showing up!"_

Nova grunted silently after hearing Tosh's proposition in their telepathic chat. Her duty as a loyal assassin in the service of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk and the Terran Dominion had made her felt that it would be unacceptable for her to join arms with the wanted criminal hiding close to her in this same room. However, the blonde knew that the Spectre was right. That cybernetic psionic warrior's battle prowess was leagues way better than the rest of its kin. As demonstrated earlier, it would not easily let itself fall to some direct headshots, and its reaction was fast enough to catch up with both the Ghost and the Spectre. Not to mention that her psionic reserve was still pretty low as she had yet to recover from her earlier exhaustion of unleashing a couple of high-powered psi blasts. She would need all the help she could get if she wanted to get past that cybernetic commando.

"_Fine! Let's quickly get this over with..." _Reluctantly, Nova agreed with the Spectre, _"But don't get mistaken, traitor; I'm helping you out this time just because the destruction of that enemy cybernetic super soldier would guarantee a higher chance of our survival, not because I'm your friend or ally. After this is over, I'll still hunt you down eventually. If you try to double-cross me at any time, I'll give you a canister round right between your two dull eyes!"_

Despite hearing the Ghost's threats, Tosh smirked as the important fact that Nova had actually agreed with the temporary alliance set between himself and his blonde ex-lover. It seemed that despite the multiple times the Ghost having received her memory wipes, Nova still retained some of her rational thinking instead of those blind fanaticism to Mengsk's causes that was commonly observed in Dominion Ghosts. If it would be a normal Dominion Ghost, Tosh would probably only receive a non-hesitant gunshot towards his head as a response. Perhaps there might be still a chance of salvation for the blonde; salvation from the brain-washing of the Terran Dominion.

"_Alright, let's do this thing! Now here's what we need to do..." _Tosh explained telepathically to his temporary ally, _"Firstly, we need to take out that pair of cannon-toting clanker goons. If I recall correctly, their EMP cannons and energy shield would be a big headache to us if they recover their energy. Luckily, your earlier EMP shots seem to prevent that from happening mon, but who knows for how long. Get rid of them quickly before they can recover."_

"_That's easy enough. I've faced off a couple of those cannon cyborgs before; they're just as easy to dispatch as Marauders when they're underpowered. I can finish them off quickly with a few snipes to their heads... but I need them and that big cyborg leader distracted first. Flash grenades won't work much against those half-machines." _Nova replied.

"_Yeah... but a blaze of fire would. Let me handle the distraction, mon."_

Tosh took out a Molotov cocktail and a Holy Water grenade. As the Spectre lighted up the Molotov cocktail, he threw the Holy Water grenade towards the enemy cyborg formation when he seized a slight opening. Split seconds later, the lighted Molotov cocktail was thrown towards the same place as well.

Detecting an imminent devastating firestorm attack, the trio of cyborgs temporarily ceased their fire and move out of the way. However, their evasive manoeuvre was just the major opening that Nova needed.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

With 4 quick sniper shots, Nova had successfully placed accurate headshots right through the skulls of the 2 Enlightened. Not even the heavy cyborg combat interface helmets of the Enlightened could protect them from high calibre explosive canister rounds. Both Enlightened collapsed with smoke and sparks belching out of their compromised head units, where the processor chips had been housed. With the head units damaged beyond repair, the Ghost had cut off the connection of both Enlightened processors from the rest of their bodies, rendering the half-machines disabled for the rest of the battle.

"_Both cannon cyborgs are down ! Now it's time to deal with the leader..."_ Nova remarked.

"_Indeed, sister. Now we have the numbers, let's overwhelm that boss clanker with everything we got before it calls in reinforcements!"_ Tosh replied, readying his fully loaded heavy gauss rifle.

"_I'll go first. Still not sure what that thing is capable of besides cloaking itself and shooting those lasers, but it's best to power it down first." _Nova stated, while loading a couple of EMP rounds into her canister rifle.

"_Got it, sister! We'll finish it off after it's been EMPed."_

With EMP rounds loaded into her C20A, Nova first chucked a frag grenade towards her towering opponent, forcing the Cyborg Commando to take evasive action. This brief moment of opening allowed Nova to quickly emerge from her cover and fire off the EMP rounds towards the enemy cyborg.

'I got you now!' Nova thought, confident that the EMP rounds would catch the Cyborg Commando off guard and disable it.

To the surprise of the Ghost, Cyborg Commando no. 99 not only anticipated the incoming EMP rounds, it even successfully reacted and dodged the rounds by making a huge leap and landing at several metres away from its original position. All of these were done in less than a split of a second and with a fluid and graceful motion.

'Impossible! It dodged the EMP rounds? How could it be able to move that fast with its bulk?' Nova wondered.

'Whoa... even if I know that it ain't a normal clanker... but how the hell did something the size of a beefed up Marauder can move as fast and as graceful as a Ghost?' Tosh asked himself the same question.

Ignoring the looks of awe and surprise from its opponents, Cyborg Commando no. 99 resumed its assault against both Nova and Tosh with its rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon, forcing both the Ghost and the Spectre to take cover once more.

'Damn! EMP rounds themselves are not working against that thing. How the hell are we supposed to bring it down?'

'Looks like sister's plan ain't working so well... can't blame her when no one can expect a clanker to be able to move at the speed and agility of a Ghost, even if it's bigger and heavier than a Marauder dude. We need a new plan for this...'

While Nova and Tosh were thinking up of a new strategy, no. 99 resumed its offense against both psionic agents. Unknown to its two primary targets, no. 99 was also slowly charging up its energy through its Lazarus-class reactor on its back, preparing to divert the massive amount of energy to its super-charged plasma cannon mounted on its left arm. It's processor had already processed the fact that now both of its primary targets had struck a temporary alliance and now it was imperative for no. 99 to weaken this alliance by quickly killing at least one of the targets, which was why the super-charged plasma cannon was needed. Usually, it would be considered to be an overkill to use such a powerful weapon against a single infantry, but against two psionic super soldiers, it would not matter much as long as one of them could be immediately vaporised before becoming into a serious threat.

Although both the Ghost and Spectre were unable to decipher the binary coded thoughts of the Cyborg Commando, the energy build-up in the cybernetic super soldier's left arm had not gone unnoticed to both agents.

"_You feel that, sister? Seems that clanker is up to something." _Tosh communicated with Nova again through telepathic means.

"_I know! There is a massive amount of energy build-up in that cyborg's left arm cannon. I can feel that it's draining more than half of the total amount of stored energy reserves in its oversized reactor on its back. Whatever that thing is preparing, it must be something big. We have to disable its power before it can use that left arm cannon."_ Nova replied.

"_Agreed! I hate to find out what that clanker is planning to use that much juice for."_

Determined to stop the mysterious energy attack that their half mechanical foe was planning, both Nova and Tosh renewed their assault against the mighty Cyborg Commando. Braving through the barrage of laser fire, Tosh fired his C-1X heavy gauss rifle at the heavily armoured cyborg, forcing the cyborg on the move. While Cybernetic Commando no. 99 was on the defensive, Nova joined in the assault by laying suppression fire with her C20A canister rifle, firing high explosive canister rounds to try to damage the mighty half robot.

Despite the cyborg's enhanced speed, agility and reaction, no. 99 had begun to receive damage to its armour, especially from some of the stray spikes fired from Tosh's hail of heavy gauss rifle fire. It had also already got hit by two canister rounds; one in its pincer-shaped right arm gauntlet and the other in the left leg. While the round that hit its heavily armoured right arm gauntlet did little damage, the one that struck its left leg servo was a little bit more serious; no. 99 could detect that left leg servo was less responsive to its command as before. A running self-diagnostic program had revealed that a few cables had snapped from the blow and its left leg servo was starting to leak hydraulic fluids.

"_Excellent! I think that shot onto that clanker's left leg manage to slow it down mon. Now's our chance sister!"_ Tosh exclaimed.

"_I know!" _Nova replied as she reloaded her canister rifle with EMP rounds again this time. With that left leg servo leaking spurting out sparks and leaking hydraulic fluid, it was obvious that the cyborg's superior speed and agility would now be heavily compromised. Now it was the opportunity for her to disable it without fearing it of dodging out of the way like last time.

However, the Cyborg Commando also knew its own predicament and had anticipated that its two foes would try to counterattack at this moment. Hence, the hulking cybernetic super soldier began to lumber its way towards a pile of metal crates and hid behind it before its left leg servo could go completely unresponsive. As it got behind the crates, it returned fire towards its foes with its laser cannon again.

'Now it's using cover? Damn it sure is smart for a robot mon.' Tosh praised.

"_Tosh!" _the voice of Nova suddenly sounded telepathically in the Spectre's mind, _"That thing had taken cover behind those crates. I can't get an accurate EMP shot like that."_

"_I know, sister. Don't worry, I'll flush that fatass out."_ The Spectre replied.

Tosh immediately switched from the C-1X heavy gauss rifle in his hands to the Twin Dragon rocket launcher. Ensuring that the rocket launcher was already loaded, the Spectre quickly hoisted up the rocket launcher and aimed at the crate pile where the enemy Cyborg Commando was hiding behind... and fired its two shots.

Cyborg Commando no. 99 instantly sensed the oncoming rocket projectiles and its processor immediately began to analyse the situation. In nanoseconds, the cybernetic super soldier had finished its situational analysis and decided its course of response. The half-man killing machine quickly intercepted the first incoming rocket with its Gladius laser cannon like a point-defence drone, igniting the rocket prematurely before it hit its intended target. Still, it was not fast enough to intercept the second rocket.

The missed rocket slammed itself into the crate pile where no. 99 was taking cover from behind, resulting in a blast that not only tore the crate pile apart into pieces, but also damaged and pushed no. 99 back to the open. With the Cyborg Commando exposed, Nova took her chance.

"You're mine!" the Ghost declared.

However, before Nova could squeeze the trigger of her canister rifle, her enhanced psionic senses suddenly detected a huge spike in energy levels from her opponent. Then, to her shock, she saw that the enemy Cyborg Commando had pointed its left arm cannon towards her the moment it was blasted out of its cover; with the nozzle of the arm cannon glowing ominously bright.

Tosh also saw the Cyborg Commando making its move, and like Nova, he might not be able to translate the mind of the cybernetic foe, he could still tell that it was planning to blast the blonde into oblivion.

"Shit! Get the hell out of here, sister!"

Then, it happened. A loud bang echoed across the entire armoury chamber, as a huge of bolt of super-heated plasma was shot out of Cybernetic Commando no. 99's left arm super-charged plasma cannon, zooming straight towards the Ghost in front.

Nova immediately reacted. Her psionically enhanced mind and body worked overtime to prevent herself from getting hit by what seemed to be a lethal attack. Adrenaline flooded throughout her circulatory system, vastly increasing her breathing rate and blood flow. Her senses became more focused, which were further enhanced during her 'fight or flight' response. Her nervous system was working faster and more active than usual, which was further enhanced by the hostile environment suit that she was wearing, allowing her to react much faster than before. With both her senses and mind working so actively, her perception to time was changed; to her, everything seemed to be moving at a slow speed. She saw the bolt of super-heated plasma heading her way. She lowered down her canister rifle and somersaulted over the plasma bolt trajectory; just inches before the bolt of plasma could even graze the blonde. Missing the Ghost, the plasma bolt kept going straight, until it hit and blasted a huge 3 metre radius hole in the metal wall behind the Ghost.

Tosh, who had witnessed the entire action, could only whistle in awe, "Damn that was close, sister! If that blast really hit you mon, there would be nothing left of you for Mengsk to recover!"

"Glad that it didn't. Now that thing had wasted too much energy to use that attack, I believe that it is time for me to wrap this up." Nova declared as she landed back onto her both feet unharmed. As she landed, she immediately returned to her firing position just like seconds earlier, ready to fire the EMP rounds; this time there would be no more super-charged plasma cannon ruining the moment.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Nova fired three simultaneous EMP rounds towards the Cyborg Commando. No. 99 had immediately detected the incoming EMP assault and quickly made evasive manoeuvres. However, as it had just recovered from a massive recoil from its missed super-charged plasma cannon, the Cyborg Commando's response was slightly slower than it intended to. As a result, it successfully stepped away from the trajectory of the first shot, but failed to dodge away from the second. The second EMP round penetrated its side armour, releasing bursts of electromagnetic pulse energy that started to 'eat' into its system. Stunned by the EMP attack, the Cyborg Commando paused for a second; a fatal mistake which caused it to get hit by the third EMP shot.

"WARNING: EMP DAMAGE DETECTED! ENERGY LEVELS CRITICAL... LAZARUS REACTOR OUTPUT LEVEL AT MINIMAL 1%... SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AT MINIMAL 5%... INPUTTING COMMAND: INITIATING STARTUP OF SECONDARY REACTOR..."

Shortly after the third EMP shot hit its mark, Cybernetic Commando no. 99 fell into a state of inactivity as the EMP pulse fried its circuits and shut is main reactor down. The Cyborg Commando had to start up a secondary reactor, specially designed and installed in a small number of elite Cyborg Commandos such as no. 99 itself to counteract EMP attacks, in order to prevent a total shutdown. However, as it began its start-up of its secondary reactor, it would be totally immobile for a brief period of time.

Both Nova and Tosh noticed the Cyborg Commando's prone form in its kneeling position after it had sustained two shots of EMP rounds. The former teammates of Team Blue immediately knew that this was the best chance to take down the mighty war machine.

"Look, sister! That thing's reeling! Let's take it down with the our best shots!" Tosh shouted as he prepped up a fully loaded Twin Dragon rocket launcher.

"You don't need to say." Nova replied, with her C20A canister rifle fully loaded with high calibre rounds.

Then, in synch, Tosh and Nova fired their respective weapons. Two canister rounds struck home into the downed Cyborg Commando's head, before two rocket projectiles rammed into their homed-in target and ended into two fiery explosions.

BOOM! BOOM!

As the explosions died down, it seemed that nothing was left except for flames in the wake of the explosions.

"Well... I guess that takes care of it..." Tosh stated.

The blonde Ghost was about to agree... until her psionic radar detected a spike among the flames.

"Lookout!" Nova warned as she jumped away, just right before a streak of laser hit the spot where she stood earlier. Seconds later, Tosh had to do the same when he himself got under fire by another barrage of laser fire. All of these laser fire appeared to originate from among the flames where the Cyborg Commando was supposedly to be destroyed.

"SECONDARY REACTOR ACTIVATED... ENERGY RE-ROUTE THROUGH SYSTEM COMPLETE... SYSTEM RESTORE COMPLETE... ENERGY OUTPUT LEVEL NORMAL AT 33% AND INCREASING... WARNING: SYSTEM INTEGRITY CRITICAL... HIND SERVOS DAMAGE IRREVERSIBLE... INPUTTING COMMAND: SWITCHING FROM STANDARD OPERATIONAL MODE TO CRITICAL OPERATIONAL MODE."

"Damn! That thing's still moving? I thought it should be scrapped after those rockets went boom!" Tosh exclaimed, surprised that the Cyborg Commando was still operational.

Then, within the flames where the rockets had struck earlier, a green glow of a T-shaped visor was seen by both psionic super soldiers; a green glow that by now both agents were quite familiar with. Shortly after the green visor shined, a soft rumble which sounded like a machine rebooting itself echoed across the armoury chamber. It was then when Cybernetic Commando no. 99 showed itself again, crawling out of the flames legless like a robotic undead emerging out of its pit. Its entire lower half below its torso, including its legs, were completely missing, with sparks spurting out of the exposed wires protruding from its severed torso. Despite the seemingly crippling wound, the Cyborg Commando still looked battle-ready.

"Whoa... now that thing is real persistent, mon. Any ideas, sister?" Tosh asked.

"I admit that it looks impressive that it can still operate even if it's missing its legs, but to me it means that now it's a cripple and it should be easier for us to destroy... permanently." Nova remarked.

"Well... I think I can agree with that, mon."

Tosh and Nova reloaded their weapons and prepared to fire at the now legless Cyborg Commando, until they were forced to take cover from yet another barrage of laser fire from the persistent cyborg. Even if it was missing its legs, the Cyborg Commando could still shoot back at its opponents with its still functional Gladius laser cannon.

"_That thing may be crippled, but it certainly still can put up a good fight." _Nova talked to her temporary ally telepathically.

"_Yeah! But without its legs, I don't think it can move as fast as before. Let's see how it's going to leap away from a firestorm!"_

Tosh took out another pair of Molotov cocktail and Holy Water grenade. With a swift and fluid motion, the Spectre chucked both the lighted Molotov cocktail and the Holy Water grenade towards the bifurcated cyborg when it was too busy shooting at Nova's position. No. 99 did detect the incoming pair of grenades and tried to react. Sadly, being legless and its arm servos could not exert the same amount of force as its leg servos, the Cyborg Commando was not fast enough to avoid the flaming bottle and its flammable partner. Both grenades hit their mark and the Cyborg Commando immediately went ablaze.

"WARNING: UNIT UNDER FIRE! WARNING: SYSTEM INTEGRITY CRITICAL... CRITICAL SYSTEMS ERROR DETECTED... INPUTTING COMMAND: ABORT OPERATION!"

Being set on fire, the heavily damaged Cyborg Commando no. 99 tried to crawl itself out of the firestorm. It powered itself away from the flames with its forearm servos, continuously raining down suppression fire against its two foes as it tried to muscle its way out. Its processor had decided that it was now too heavily damaged to keep on fighting and it would be wiser to return back for repairs as quickly as possible to preserve the elite unit before too much irreversible damage could be done.

"_That thing's getting real hurt, sister, but it's trying to get away! We must stop it!" _Tosh informed his former teammate through the mind.

"_I can see that. If we let that thing go, it may bring future complications to my mission. I'll stop it!"_ Nova replied as she prepared a fragmentation grenade.

"_Correction... WE'LL stop it!" _the Spectre responded with his rocket launcher fully reloaded.

Nova took a peep out from her cover to see that the heavily wounded Cyborg Commando was now trying to escape the area by crawling its way towards the blasted gate opening of the armoury chamber. Although its advance was slow, it was raining sufficient suppression against both her and Tosh to prevent them from stopping its advance. If that thing managed to leave the chamber, there would be a possibility that she would encounter Nod reinforcements that would save the Cyborg Commando from her, letting that dangerous killing machine to live or function another day and jeopardise any future Dominion plans. This had to be rectified.

The Ghost quickly unplugged the safety pin of the frag grenade in her hand before swiftly lobbed it over her cover and towards the fleeing Cyborg Commando, avoiding its suppression fire. The grenade landed a few feet away from the downed cybernetic warrior, before blowing off. The shockwave of the explosion struck hard onto the Cyborg Commando, denting its armour and messing its internal circuits; while the splinters from the exploded frag grenades caused further damage to the cybernetic super soldier's armour.

However, though Cyborg Commando no. 99 had received further damage from the grenade blast, it was still functioning. Ironically, though the grenade blast almost destroyed Cyborg Commando no. 99, it had accidentally flipped the crippled cyborg closer towards the armoury exit.

"Shit!" Nova cursed; she had not expected the enemy Cyborg Commando would have such dumb luck. Now the Cyborg Commando was just a few crawling distance away from the exit. She could try to shoot the fleeing foe with her rifles, but the AGR-14 did not have the firepower to take it out quickly while the C20A's firing rate was too slow. The flak pistol had the firepower but lacked the range. Grenades were too unreliable as demonstrated earlier. Psyblade might work, but she would need to get in close, which would put herself within striking distance of the enemy's rapid-firing laser cannon. Perhaps she would need the help of her pale eyed one-time ally.

'Wait a second, where's Tosh?' the blonde suddenly realised that the Spectre was nowhere to be found.

"Looking for me, sister?" Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tosh showed himself right in front of the exit, with his rocket launcher prepped and ready to fire. While Nova had been busy focusing her full attention towards the Cyborg Commando, the Spectre had secretly repositioned himself right in front of the armoury exit, standing right in the way of the Cyborg Commando's only path of escape.

Cyborg Commando no. 99 turned its attention to its front to realise that its second foe had blocked its escape route. Sadly, before it could shoot at the Spectre with is laser cannon, Tosh had pushed the trigger. The last image that the doomed cybernetic super soldier saw in its green visor was a pair of rockets flying straight towards it.

BOOOOOOMMM!

The resulting blast was even bigger than the earlier ones which blew off no. 99's legs. Then, out from the fiery ball of fire, a sparkling severed right arm flew out with the Gladius laser cannon still attached. Seconds later, a thud could be heard as something fell hard onto the floor. A few feet away from the site of the blast, the item had revealed itself to be the partially melted and deformed helmet of the Cyborg Commando.

'I guess that means that bigass clanker boss is finally dead this time.' Tosh thought, seeing what had remained of the once formidable Cyborg Commando.

Nova had the same opinion after witnessing the broken up burning remains of the Cyborg Commando. It was a truly formidable adversary, one of the toughest foe Nova had ever encountered throughout her entire career. In fact, if it wasn't because of unexpected aid from Tosh, Nova had doubted that she could be able to take it and its cyborg minions down by herself.

Speaking about Tosh, with the primary threat of the Cyborg Commando being taken out of equation, Nova could now finally turn her full attention to the rogue psionic agent. Although she was exhausted after the battle against the Cyborg Commando, Nova could feel that the Spectre was not fully fresh either. Quickly reloading her C20A canister rifle, the elite Ghost was about to apprehend her former teammate.

"Whoa! Never knew that you would be so eager to point your gun at me, sister." Tosh remarked in an amusing tone, as if he had totally anticipated the blonde's actions. "Man... we had a real nice time working together to bring that big red clanker down into bits... really reminds me of the old days, don't you think, sister? Well... it's too bad that the fun's finally over. I really like to stay and chat, sister, but I still got my job to do. So see you again next time... and hopefully you would remember everything..."

"Wait! You're not going anywhere, traitor!" Nova tried to stop the Spectre from leaving the room. However, the blonde immediately realised that the black and red clad Spectre had cleverly positioned himself right in front of the exit when he took down the Cyborg Commando; a nice suitable position for the Spectre to make his quick getaway. Before the Ghost could try to shoot the Spectre with her canister rifle, Tosh had tossed a hallucinogen grenade right towards her. The yellowish-green hallucinogenic gas seeped out from the broken bottle-shaped grenade casing, disrupting the blonde's mind. By the time when Nova had used her psionic powers to purge the hallucinogens out from her body and fully cleared her senses, the Spectre was already gone.

Once again, Gabriel Tosh had remained out of Nova Terra's reach.

"Damnit! I won't let you get away next time, Gabriel Tosh!"

* * *

(Minutes later... inside Section 2 Elevator en route to Level B1...)

"Phew! Now that was close, mon." Tosh made a sigh of relief, satisfied that he had escaped Nova's pursuit, for now. Although the Spectre felt nostalgic to meet his former lover once again since their clash in Augustgrad Palace a year ago, Tosh knew that the blonde did not feel the same to him. The actions shown earlier by the Ghost had more than proven the blonde's fierce hostility towards him, with seemingly no memories of their times as teammates and lovers before both of them left the Ghost Academy. The Spectre could guess why; it was all thanks to those damned memory wipes and the lies made by Mengsk and the Dominion regime that had completely brainwashed Nova from a broken girl with a kind heart into an obedient, merciless, cold-blooded attack dog of the Dominion. Someday, Mengsk had to pay!

It was truly sad to see that the girl he used to date with was now trying to either capture or kill him. Tosh still held feelings for the blonde even after he had severed ties with the Dominion years ago. It was mainly those feelings that were the reasons why Tosh had been hesitant to kill his pursuer, which he would usually do to others. Although Nova's PI rating was double digit and her skills as an elite Ghost was unparalleled, Tosh's ability to block off his mind and added with his physical and psionic enhancements as a Spectre meant that he should have the edge against his female foe should he be serious for a fight. If he wanted to, he could have easily bested the Ghost by luring her to a trap, giving her a terrazine overdose to disable her for a brief period of time, when he could deliver the finishing blow. He had done that before during the coup a year ago in the Augustgrad Palace, yet he had failed to do the final step of finishing the blonde off. It was his reluctance to kill Nova that caused him to have a spat with his former boss Colonel Cole Bennett, and would led to Nova's eventual escape , allowing the Ghost to continue hunting him for another day. Despite the troubles that the blonde Ghost had caused him, Tosh was still willing to let his ex-lover live. Even now he was still clinging to the hope that 'everything would be back to normal'... if Mengsk was dead.

'Hope to see you some day again... baby. I'll find some way to reverse those memory wipes that the crook Mengsk had forced on you. And by that time... hope you'll still remember the old times...'

* * *

(Meanwhile... back in Level 6 Main Broadcast Studio...)

"UNIT LOST! WARNING: CRITICAL UNIT LOST... CYBERNETIC COMMANDO NO. 99 STATUS: OFFLINE..."

The command crew in the Main Broadcast Studio was in a disarray when they learnt that their best available soldier, the Cyborg Commando no. 99, had been defeated and destroyed by the enemy infiltrators. Worse still, real-time footage relayed by the mighty cyborg super soldier had shown that both main threats were still active before they lost contact with their commando unit. To Archdeacon Ricardo, not only did the loss was a huge setback, it was also a major humiliation to the Brotherhood of Nod. Cyborgs were not only programmed to be merciless and fearless frontline shock troopers that could bring in heavy devastations while tanking in tremendous amount of fire from their enemies, their computerised mindsets meant that they should be immune to the telepathic abilities of Terran Ghosts and together with their cybernetically enhanced body, they should have a major edge over their psionic foes in a direct combat. Cyborg Commandos were the pinnacles of the Brotherhood's cybernetic army, armed with some of Nod's most advanced weapons and wargears to tackle on any sorts of threats ranging from hordes of Zerglings to a single Thor heavy assault walker, so they should be able to handle a pair of Ghosts. Sadly, Ricardo and his men had forgotten to take account of some of Ghost's standard issued weapons' abilities to disrupt and disable mechanical units, including cyborgs. Especially in the hands of elite Ghosts such as Nova, it was possible to turn the tide against a Cyborg Commando if one knew when and how to use their available tools properly.

With the loss of his best unit and the knowledge that both infiltrators were still alive in the compound, Archdeacon Ricardo felt the rising urgency of the situation. He could no longer afford to hold back his defence forces stationed in this facility anymore.

"All units stationed in this broadcast station are to deploy now!" Ricardo announced through the facility's PA system, "There are two hostile psionic targets present in this facility. I repeat; there are two hostile psionics present in this facility! All High Confessors are to deploy immediately with your followers kept in tight squads! Remember, your targets are psionics; never try to engage alone! Both targets must be subdued immediately, regardless dead or alive!"

"Archdeacon sir, what about us?" a pair of High Confessors leading a squad of 4 Confessors, 2 Black Hands and 12 Devouts asked. Each High Confessor wore a red powered combat suit that resembled the shape and design of those worn by regular Confessors, except it was slightly heavier and was coloured mainly in red rather than black. Like a regular Confessor, the helmet of the High Confessor was tall and conical in shape with 4 visible small visors that glowed green in colour. Instead of carrying a C-1X heavy gauss rifle, each High Confessor was armed with an Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun that was connected to a large green Tiberium fuel tank to each High Confessor's back. The Exorcist Tiberium combi-gun was a high-tech dual-barrelled heavy cannon that was fuelled by liquid Tiberium fuel tanks; with a larger top-layered cannon that fired Tiberium-fuelled laser beams that could prism across multiple targets, both terrestrial and aerial, and could easily corrode through light armour or weaken heavy armour; while a smaller nozzle in the bottom sprayed corrosive dosage of liquid Tiberium to masses of ground targets. This powerful and deadly weapon had made High Confessors lethal heavy shock infantries that could take on a multitude variety of threats, ranging from infantry or Zerg masses to small armoured column or fighter formation.

A High Confessor's battle prowess was considered to be on par with battle cyborgs, with some heroic ones that could even match up with Cyborg Commandos. However, the main problem was that High Confessors were few in numbers; and their weapons and equipments were also more expensive and harder to manufacture. Hence High Confessors were usually reserved behind the frontlines as backups and only deployed in the most important operations. With Cyborg Commando no. 99 out of commission, the small numbers of High Confessors and their crack troops would be the last line of defence remaining for Ricardo.

"You two squads shall remain stationed here. You are to guard this room and defend it from the infiltrators with your lives. You are the last line of defence for this HQ; failure is not an option!" Ricardo commanded.

"As you wish, Archdeacon sir!"

"You heard the Archdeacon, now spread out and take defensive positions! We must be ready before any of the Ghosts reaches here!" a Confessor barked out as the defending soldiers quickly occupied their positions to set up an ambush in case if one of the infiltrators reached this main broadcast studio.

"Fellow disciples, prepare your arms too. If the infiltrators reach here, we must be prepared to fight them off with our lives! Remember, we are the Order of the Black Hand, and we will not fear death! Our messiah, Kane, relies on us to keep the Brotherhood safe, and we will not fail him! Show no mercy to the unbelievers! One vision! One purpose! Peace through power!" Ricardo shouted as he raised his laser pistol high up in the air, inspiring the rest of the officers present in the room to take up their arms as well.

"NO MERCY! NO SURRENDER! PEACE THROUGH POWER!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Mission accomplished?

With the defeat of the Cyborg Commando, both Nova and Tosh were nearing towards their final objectives of their missions. With only a small handful of High Confessors and other grunt soldiers left to defend the Main Broadcast Studio, Nova and Tosh were expecting their missions to end soon... or did they?

* * *

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: AGR-14 assault gauss rifle, C20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Frag grenades, Flash grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N), Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast, Nuke (currently disabled)

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: C-1X heavy gauss rifle(N), Twin dragon rocket launcher (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N), Frag grenades, Molotov cocktails (N), Holy Water grenades (N), Hallucinogen grenades (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

My Nod Unit Profile: High Confessor

Role: Multi-role heavy shock infantry and religious leaders

Armament: Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun; Heavy Confessor Powered Combat Suit; Tiberium fuel tank

Appearance: Looks like a slightly heavier version of a standard Confessor but with the same colour scheme of Tib. Twilight's High Confessor. Carries a Tiberium gun instead of a heavy gauss rifle. Most noticeable trait is the large green Tiberium fuel tanks strapped to their backs and connected to their guns.

Among the ranks of the Confessors within the Order of the Black Hand, only a few handful of the elite veterans could be chosen and promoted to High Confessors. While Confessors were given authority to lead the lesser disciples such as Militant volunteers and young Devouts and Ascended to battle, High Confessors were given the honour to lead other Confessors or even Black Hand troopers right into the midst of some of the most crucial battles against the enemies of the Brotherhood. As their numbers were very few, these elites of the elites were issued with the best kinds of wargears that the Brotherhood of Nod could offer, which included a heavier version of the Confessor Powered Combat Suit that could allow High Confessors to resist light to medium firearms while not limiting their mobility. The most powerful equipment that was issued to them, however, was the Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun.

Fuelled by a Tiberium fuel tank strapped to the back of each High Confessor, the Exorcist fired super-charged Tiberium particles towards the enemies at two possible different forms. The first default form sprayed green liquid Tiberium in a narrow arc through a spray nozzle at the bottom of the main gun barrel that was effective in melting infantries and light armour or clearing garrisoned structures. Although the spray mode was less effective against heavily armoured targets and was incapable of dealing with aerial threats, the liquid Tiberium residue leftover by the spray could corrode even the heaviest armour, or spawn a new Tiberium field if sprayed on an empty field. The second attack form fired a super-charged Tiberium particle beam that could prism from the initial target to up to two other nearby adjacent hostiles through the main gun barrel. Not only could the Tiberium particle beam easily sizzle through infantry bodies, it could also easily burn through even the heaviest armour and destroy tanks or large creatures within a few shots. The range of the particle beam meant that it was even capable of striking aerial targets as well, making it a much more versatile form of offence. The only drawback of the second attack form was its slow rate of fire, making it to be ill-advised against masses of small light hostiles such as Zergling rushes or Marine hordes. As each attack discharged by the Exorcist Tiberium combi-gun would draw a lot of energy and fuel from the Tiberium fuel tank, High Confessors could only use one form of weapon fire at a time and never both at the same instance, although they could freely change their mode of weapon fire at anytime they wished. High Confessors could have their fuel tanks upgraded to carry the more potent blue liquid Tiberium, which further enhanced the firepower of their weapon. Recently, there were rumours that some of the victims destroyed by High Confessors' Tiberium weapons were not killed immediately, but instead had mutated and transformed into some kind of grotesque, mindless creatures that not even the High Confessors themselves could handle.

Due to their use of Tiberium-based weapon, High Confessors were sometimes referred as Chem Warriors or Tiberium Troopers by the older generations of the Brotherhood's populations that still remembered the folklore of these deadly soldiers in the past wars on Earth before the Ascension. Regardless of what they were called as, there was no denying the fact that these small handful of elite high-ranking soldiers were some of the best combat infantries that the Brotherhood of Nod had ever produced, with their combat capabilities only bested by Cyborg Commandos.

* * *

Venom Patrol Craft vs. Mutalisk

This time, the battle is going to be between two kinds of light aerial units that are both cheap to produce, fragile but easily massed into large quantity. The Nod Venom may be vastly different from the Zerg Mutalisk, they are both readily to be mass-produced in quantities so vast that the sky could be covered if these two swarms were to clash in the skies.

**Venom:**

The Nod Venom Patrol Craft is a single-seated VTOL scout fighter designed by the Brotherhood of Nod to detect hidden or cloaked threats as it flies through atmosphere or space with its dual fighter-grade VTOL warp engines. Armed with a pair of Stinger rocket launchers, each Venom is tasked with hunting down enemy aircrafts, tanks and other armoured threats that try to invade into Nod territory. Being the smallest, lightest armed and armoured aircraft of the Brotherhood, the Venom is also the fastest aircraft available in the Nod Air Force, with speed rivalling to that of a Protoss Phoenix fighter and capable of easily overtaking Dominion Dropships, Banshees, Vikings, Ravens and Battlecruisers. However, due to their very light armour and rather light armament, Venoms are ill-suited to engage with enemies that can fight back. Hence Nod commanders usually deploy Venoms either in small patrol groups for reconnaissance missions or large swarms to overwhelm enemy ships. As a Venom design is rather simple and it is easy to manufacture, Venoms can be easily mass-produced in large quantities within a short span of time. Due to the Brotherhood of Nod's mysterious way of amassing a large, almost endless number of followers at anytime, pilot demand for the vast number of Venoms is not a problem. Novice combat pilots of the Brotherhood of Nod are always first trained to pilot Venoms before piloting other Nod combat aircrafts, hence a vast majority of Venom pilots are novices. Veteran or elite Venom pilots are rare, since Venoms are extremely fragile and losses are frequent occurrences during every engagements. Still, like all other Nod soldiers, Venom pilots are highly obedient to their superiors' orders all the way to the end, not hesitating to participate in high risk engagements against enemy fighter formations or capital ships even though knowing that there is a slight chance that they may not live on for the next mission. Venoms' Stinger rockets can be upgradeable with Tiberium-core rockets, which can pack a more powerful destructive force.

**Mutalisk:**

The Zerg Mutalisk evolves from the Mantis Screamer of the desolate Dinares Sector. From its predecessor species, the Mutalisk retains the ability to fly through both atmosphere and space. Mutalisks attack at their prey, both aerial and terrestrial, through symbiotic organisms spawned within their bodies called glaive wurms. These glaive wurms are expelled through the anal ends of the Mutalisks, striking and flying between multiple targets as they degrade explosively after each contact, making Mutalisks deadly against lightly armoured enemies that are tightly clustered in a group. If locked into close combat, Mutalisks can strike back using their razor-sharp fangs and their acidic blood. Mutalisk are relatively fast fliers that are known to easily catch up and shoot down transport ships of all races. However, their carapace are also relatively light and their wings are exceptionally fragile, although they do have enhanced cellular regenerations to recover from injuries very quickly if they manage to survive an engagement. Mutalisks usually flock in large 'screams' and are seen in making hit-and-run attacks against supply lines or ground troop formations. They are also commonly found to be swarming and harassing enemy capital ships such as a Terran Battlecruiser or Protoss Carrier. Although Mutalisks will also occasionally engage enemy fighters, Zerg Cerebrates will usually tend to avoid getting them to dogfight enemy fighters due to their relatively weak anti-air offense and their fragility. Mutalisks require few resources to spawn, hence they are quick to be spawned en masse in a short period of time. Like all other lesser Zergs, Mutalisks only respond to the psionic call of the hive mind that spawns them, following the instructions of the hive mind with no hesitation. Feral Mutalisks are usually lazy, preferring to drift lazily through the air and only engage when threatened. When a flock of Mutalisks is under the control of a hive mind, however, they are relentless, cannot be swayed, cannot be convinced and will not give up chasing their prey unless the hive mind orders them to do so. In the past during the previous Great War, Mutalisks have been observed to morph into Guardian or Devourer strains even in the midst of battle. However, in the current war, there have been no observations of Mutalisks morphing into advanced Zerg strains yet. Still, it is unknown whether the Mutalisks of today retain the ability to metamorphosise into another Zerg strain.

**Comparison:**

As I have mentioned earlier, both Venoms and Mutalisks are cheap air units that can be spawned or mass-produced in large quantities in a short amount of time, making it possible for both sides to match up evenly against each other in terms of quantity. A Venom is very small in size for a man-made flyer, even smaller than an average Mutalisk. While a single volley of Stinger rockets pack more punch that a glaive wurm, they are not very effective in shooting down light and agile targets such as a Mutalisk. A glaive wurm damage may be low compared to most other anti-air arsenal, its characteristic of ricocheting off from one target to another makes it an excellent weapon for crowd control. If a single Venom is to engage with a single Mutalisk head on, its Stinger rockets would have a difficulty in tracking down and making a critical hit onto the agile Mutalisk; while a Mutalisk's glaive wurm has a shorter range than a Venom's Stinger rockets and does less damage per hit, it is equally effective to all armour types and several well-placed hits from glaive wurms are more than enough to down the smaller aircraft. In a group face-off, however, the ability of a Mutalisk's glaive wurm to strike multiple targets, as well as a slightly higher durability of a Mutalisk compared to a Venom, would give the Mutalisks a distinct edge over the Venoms.

In terms of speed, the Venom has a slight edge over the Mutalisk as it is an aircraft powered by a pair of VTOL warp engines compared to a Mutalisk's method of flight by its pure wing muscle power and special levitation gas when in space. Agility in the air, however, the Mutalisk will triumph over the smaller aircraft, even though the Venom has VTOL capabilities. Depending on the situation, it is possible for both sides to outmanoeuvre each other. The Venoms will have the edge during a chase, but Mutalisks will have the edge in turning fights. Stamina wise, it is most likely that the Venom, which has an efficient fuel distribution system that can allow the aircraft to fly for a long period of time without refuelling, will easily outlast a Mutalisk if it can avoid getting itself destroyed. Like all other living creatures, flight is a pretty exhaustive action for a Mutalisk if there is no rising air current to generate the lift. In deep space, the lack of air would mean that even if the Mutalisk can survive in vacuum, it would not be moving as actively in space due to the lack of air to fuel its muscular respiration. The Venom, as a mechanical aircraft that runs entirely on liquid Tiberium fuel in its VTOL warp engines, does not have such limitations.

As most Venom pilots are comprised of novice Nod pilots, the actual aviation skills of Venom pilots are questionable. However, like all other Nod military personnel, Venom pilots are zealously loyal to the Brotherhood cause and will follow their orders and participate in any missions given by their superiors without questions, regardless the missions are suicidal or not. Like all other Zergs, Mutalisks are mostly feral in nature, acting mostly out of instincts unless guided by their respective hive minds. As such, the behaviour and attack pattern of Mutalisks are highly unpredictable like all other Zergs.

Venom's edge: 

Speed

Higher damage output

Longer attack range

Stamina

No limitations in space

Mutalisk's edge:

Size

Health

Regeneration

Glaive wurm hits multiple adjacent targets

Agility in air

**Conclusion**

Venom wins if:

In a prolonged space dogfight, where the hostile environment of vacuum would become too difficult for even the toughest life form to maintain its basal metabolism, let alone engage in a tiring life-or-death battle. As a man-made machine designed to fly for long hours in both atmosphere and space without refuelling, Venoms do not face the same limitations as the Mutalisks. In a space fight, their more superior speed will easily allow them to catch up with the now-sluggish moving Zerg fliers. If the Venoms have their weapons upgraded with Tiberium-core rockets, the increased offensive power will also allow the Venoms to kill off the Mutalisks faster with less hits before they themselves accumulate too much hits from enemy glaive wurms.

Mutalisk wins if:

In any other scenarios, especially in a large number group battle. Due to Mutalisks' light carapace armour and superior agility in the air, Venoms' armour-piercing Stinger rockets are not efficient weapons against the Zerg fliers. On the other hand, the glaive wurms may have shorter range but they can easily wreak havoc upon large groups of heavily clustered Venom flight formations; and the situation is even far grimmer for the Venoms as the smaller fighters' paper-thin light armour do little to protect themselves from the glaive wurm attacks, which are usually less threatening to other more heavily armoured aerial combatants. If the dogfight gets too close and personal, the slightly larger size of Mutalisks would mean that the ferocious animal can easily take out its smaller foe with brute force, grabbing the small aircraft with their fangs at the anal end and thrash the very lightly armoured fighter into pieces in midair. Worse still, the enhanced health regeneration of the Mutalisks would make them even harder for Venoms to kill if they cannot finish them off quickly. Hence as long as the Mutalisks can avoid a confrontation in deep space, they would easily lay waste of their Venom foes in any time.

* * *

And there you have it! As usual, I will state that I will not abandon this story regardless of any situation. I will try my best to update as quickly as possible.


	27. Act 26: Battle for Bhekar Ro:Mission Acc

Here's another new chapter for Starcraft AU: Tiberium Galaxy. By the way, I recommend you guys to check up on MegaAuthor's special spinoff of this fanfic series: Starcraft AU Tiberium Galaxy Primus. Read up MegaAuthor's profile if you want to know more.

To MegaAuthor: The High Confessor is a unit in Tiberium Twilight. It looks like a Tiberum Trooper with a Tiberium fuel tank strapped behind him, so I think it is most likely a continuation of the Tiberium Trooper line. Although it looks like a Tiberium Trooper, it attacks in a different manner, firing Tiberium particle beams that can prism from one target to another. My High Confessor in this story combines the property of both High Confessor in Tib Twilight and Tiberium Trooper in Kane's Wrath, with the ability to switch in between its two modes of attack like Red Alert 3 Desolator.

To Winter Feline: Thanks for your compliments and suggestions.

To Onsholo: The Brotherhood of Nod in this fic gather resources mainly from Tiberium, which in this universe contains both minerals and vespene gas, although their Harvesters can gather normal minerals as well.

To Ganheim: Thanks for your critical review. Well English isn't my strong language and I have never been good at writing, so I know that I will be receiving a lot of flak regarding on language, grammar, styles and stuff. I write this fanfic mainly for fun, as well as unleashing my imagination on what would happen if the StarCraft and Command and Conquer Tiberium universe are to be mashed up together. Still, I do take this fanfic seriously and I am trying my best to improve my writing skills as I update my story. As for the issue about the Nod symbol, yes I know it's closer to being triangular in shape but it's not a real triangle since it has six edges and six vertices instead of three, making it technically a hexagon rather than a triangle. I just find it hard to fully describe the shape of the symbol at that time, so I decide to just refer it as a black and red hexagon with a scorpion tail.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LIQUID DEATH ONLINE!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

Before we start, here's a brief review on Nova and Tosh's equipments so far...

* * *

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: AGR-14 assault gauss rifle, C20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Frag grenades, Flash grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N), Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast, Nuke (currently disabled)

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: C-1X heavy gauss rifle(N), Twin dragon rocket launcher (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N), Frag grenades, Molotov cocktails (N), Holy Water grenades (N), Hallucinogen grenades (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

**ACT 26: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?**

(High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... Nova Squadron flagship _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

Colonel Akira Yamada, commander of Nova Squadron, was now staring intensively at the real-time relayed footage sent back by Agent West, the Ghost agent that was sent to accompany and escort SCV Team N-09A. The team was tasked to investigate the gravity wells found inside the inner chambers of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, and disable them if possible before the Brotherhood of Nod could activate them. The Japanese commander might not know what the wells were used for, he had suspected that the wells were part of a trap set by the enemy. He did not have the evidence to prove his suspicions, but the former UED commander was not willing to take any risks. Colonel Gary Thompson, commander of Delta Squadron and chief commander of the entire operation, had stubbornly set up his headquarters on the orbital platform itself; and a section of the orbital platform was also the housing area of Nova Squadron's Apocalypse-class Nuclear Missiles. If something was to happen to the orbital platform, it might spell disaster to the entire operation.

"_bzzz... Sir! We'd just succeeded in disabling the first set of gravity wells that were set below our base of operations. We're now going to proceed towards the second set below the Nuke housing section."_ A SCV pilot reported through the transmission line.

"Good! Now hurry to the next section, but don't forget about the potential booby traps in the area! Agent West, make sure to keep a sharp lookout for booby traps; we need the entire engineering squad to be alive so that we can disable all those gravity wells faster!" Akira ordered.

"_Affirmative!" _the raspy voice of the Ghost agent replied back to his commander.

Colonel Yamada sighed as he was getting seriously stressed with his current predicament. They had already located 8 sets of gravity wells hidden inside the inner chambers of the orbital platform, with 2 of them located beneath his own squadron's base of operation, including 1 set that was housed dangerously below his Nuke storage area. With the current progress SCV Team N-09A took to defuse all booby traps before reaching and disabling one set of gravity well, the Nova Squadron commander had estimated that it would take approximately another 6 more hours before all the gravity wells could be disabled. He was hoping that the Delta Squadron can defeat all Nod forces and hopefully the enemy would not activate the gravity wells within this time limit. Who knew what kind of trap the enemy had in store for them.

Sadly, the current progress of the ground battle against the Brotherhood of Nod had not gone as smoothly as both Colonel Thompson and Colonel Yamada had initially planned. After cutting off communication into and away from this planet and seizing control of the planet's orbital platform, both commanders had expected that their ground forces would be able to overrun the enemy ground forces quickly without delay. With Apocalypse-class Nuclear Missiles in their arsenals, they should be able to remove all Nod resistance in less than a day. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood of Nod had turned out to be more resilient and cunning than they had thought. Their unorthodox guerrilla hit-and-run tactics were already a huge headache to begin with, not to mention their ability to cloak almost anything in their arsenal, including their entire bases. Even when both commanders had used plenty of methods to counter the enemy's cloaking capabilities and tried to storm into the enemy bases with brute force, the enemy revealed their ultimate trump card: advanced defensive obelisks with an insane firepower that could easily beat off any forms of assault they could throw in. It is like for every punch they tried to deliver to the Nod defenders, the Nod forces parried them back, swatting off their punches with ten-fold the power. With the Nod defenders digging themselves deep within the protection by their defence structures, there was no way for Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron to break through the tough Nod defences. Not too long ago, the Delta Squadron had lost one of its Battlecruisers, the _Manticore_, to the Nod Obelisks when the capital ship tried to storm into the Nod base where the Main Broadcast Station was located. Colonel Thompson had learnt the hard way that even the neosteel hull of a Minotaur-class Battlecruiser was no match against the sheer firepower of several Obelisks of Light. Even though when their forces had occasionally managed to destroy some of the defences, the Nod defenders would somehow bring them back within minutes, and seemingly without any worker units rushed to the scene to build back the lost defence structures. It seemed that Nukes would be their best bet to break through the stubborn Nod defences, only to find out that their cunning enemy had deployed something to jam their Ghosts from directing the Nukes to their bases. With Nukes out of the question, it now all fell onto a lone Ghost, Agent Nova Terra, who had earlier successfully infiltrated the Main Broadcast Station through a hijacked subterranean vehicle, to destroy the enemy defenders from within.

'Please hurry up, Nova! We're really running out of time!' the Nova Squadron commander prayed, hoping that the elite Ghost would create an opening to the enemy defenses as she infiltrated deep into enemy territory.

* * *

(Somewhere in High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... _Hyperion _ control bridge...)

Unknown to the Dominion task force above Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, there was another ship in High Orbit above Bhekar Ro. It was the ship of Raynor's Raiders, _Hyperion_, hidden away from sight and scanner range through a custom-built scanner scrambler.

Inside the control bridge of the _Hyperion_, the crew of Raynor's Raiders were waiting patiently for any updates on Tosh's actions on the planet surface. After the Spectre had successfully infiltrated deep into an enemy stronghold using a hijacked Nod subterranean vehicle, Raynor and his men had not heard from the shadowy mercenary ever since. Despite the possibility that the Spectre might have failed, Raynor decided to give a little more time to wait for Tosh's response. Earlier, he and Tosh had agreed that if the psionic mercenary did not respond back to him for at most 2 hours, then it would be assumed that Tosh was either dead or captured, and the _Hyperion _should warp away from the planet as quickly as possible. Right now, only an hour or so had passed, so it was still too early to conclude that something bad had happened to the Spectre.

While the crew waited for Tosh's response, they continued to observe the battle between the Dominion task force and the Nod defenders. Earlier, they were rather impressed with the Nod defenders' capability to hold back waves of Dominion direct frontal assault, even when it was clear that the Dominion forces were more superior than the Nod forces in terms of direct frontal warfare. Matt Horner and Tray Randall had been curious of why did the Dominion joint task force have not started throwing Nukes around, which the Dominion should have already done so by now if things had not been going along their way. When _Hyperion's _on board adjutant revealed the presence of a special disruption field that prevented the Ghosts from directing their Nukes to their targets, the respect that the Raynor's Raiders had for the Brotherhood of Nod grew even more.

"Those Noddies sure have everything covered." Tychus remarked, "With Nukes being a no-go, I wonder what those Dominion boys are gonna do right now?"

"With Nukes no longer an option, the Dominion joint task force has no choice but to try to take down the Noddies in the old-fashioned way," Horner commented, "which seems not to be working well when you consider that those Noddies have some serious defensive weapons."

"And not to mention that the Dominion guys are running out of resources." Tray pointed out, "For some reasons, there isn't as much minerals and vespene gas on Bhekar Ro as I had recalled. I bet that those 'Mar Sara crystals' must have been responsible for sapping away most of those available resources."

"Indeed..." Raynor remarked, "I don't see how the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron can try to turn this around. They may have cut off communication in and out of this planet, but we all know that this won't stay forever. If both of these forces cannot take down the Noddies before Nod reinforcements can arrive, this battle is already lost for Mengsk's boys."

"Mengsk should have brought down those Alpha Squadron boys if he is truly serious in taking out those Noddies." Rory Swann commented, "From what I've seen, only Alpha Squadron has the numbers and gears to get the job done."

"Do you think that the Alpha Squadron can take out those Obelisks?" Raynor asked the short chief engineer.

"Hard to say, cowboy." Swann replied, "Those Obelisks had just shown us that not even a Minotaur-class Battlecruiser is safe from their lasers, but I think a couple number of Thors can level down the Nod defences faster with their 250mm cannons. If the Thors can quickly level down those Nod defences and rush in with Diamondbacks and Crucios, I think they may still stand a chance. It's too bad that only the Alpha boys get to play with the more advanced toys that the Dominion has."

"I guess so." Raynor remarked, "Perhaps Mengsk still think that the Noddies are still not the biggest threat compared to Kerrigan."

"Guys, has anyone wondered what is taking that Tosh guy so long?" Tychus asked.

"Be patient, Tychus." The outlaw leader assured, "I guess Tosh should be finding it hard to try to get around those Mengsk's goons and Noddies when they are shooting at each other. We'll give him an extra hour. If he didn't answer, we'll be leaving this rock and we'll try to come up with another plan."

"And what if the Dominion finds us, sir?" Tray asked.

"Then we'll get out here, immediately."

* * *

(Meanwhile... inside Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10... Main Broadcast Station... Level 1 Section 2...)

"Hmm... now let's see..." Tosh muttered to himself as he searched through the files inside a computer terminal. The Spectre had found what seemed to be an administration counter, which was pretty close to the main building exit of the broadcast station. Fortunately with his Nyx-class cloaking module still functioning normally despite the chaotic battles earlier, Tosh knew that he would be perfectly out of sight from any Nod foes that are lurking outside of the building.

Since exiting out of the elevator, Tosh had not encountered anymore resistance, not after the long brutal battle against the Cyborg Commando. So far, the only things that the shadowy mercenary had destroyed along his way to the administration counter were just a few stealth detecting security cameras, nothing else. It appeared as if the Nod forces had either given up defending the facility, or had no more forces left to defend. Nevertheless the Spectre had to remain vigilant; he was fully sure that there was at least one more former ally turned enemy that was still inside the same building as he was.

Still, without any enemies stopping him, Tosh was able to work into searching through the Nod administrative database on Bhekar Ro without getting any interruptions. After spending minutes of typing and searching, Tosh found a data log entry which mentioned about the arrival of a high profile Confederate adjutant extracted from Deadman's Port. Sadly, the log entry required a Red Security Clearance access code in order to access and read.

'Dammit! Looks like I need myself a red card this time.' Tosh cursed, knowing that he needed to find at least one Red Security Clearance Card. Learning from his obtained Green and Yellow Security Clearance Card, the Spectre knew that each Nod security clearance card held a string of access codes which could also allow card holders to gain access of Nod data files, which were all accessible through the computer terminals inside this facility.

'Hmm... now I wonder what kind of Noddies would hold a red card?' Tosh wondered. So far, the highest ranking soldier that he had killed were those heavily-armoured Black Hand troopers; and those flamethrower-spewing heavy infantries held Yellow Security Clearance Cards. So what kind of soldier would carry a Red Security Clearance Card?

"Guess I'll have to start searching upwards." Tosh sighed, "It would be crazy for me to go down there again. No more guards for me to kill down there and not to mention her..."

The Spectre picked up all his weapons and headed back towards Section 2 elevator.

* * *

(Minutes later... Level 1 Section 3A...)

Nova cautiously exited from the elevator that had taken her to ground floor level, with her AGR-14 assault gauss rifle hoisted and ready to shoot at any signs of threat. The alert Ghost quickly detected a few ceiling security cameras and wasted no time in shutting them down for good with a few accurate bursts of gauss rifle fire. Scanning her surroundings, the blonde lowered her weapon after confirming that there were no hostiles lurking around.

Actually, Nova had never planned to stop at Level 1. Her primary objective site was the main broadcast studio up in Level 6, which Nova had initially planned to just get there straight from Level B2. Sadly, the Ghost realised that access to all levels above Level 3 required a Red Security Clearance Card, one which she still had not obtained. Reaching a dead-end in her mission, the Ghost had no choice but to start looking for the required clearance card.

Through her enhanced psionic senses, Nova could still faintly detect the presence of Gabriel Tosh, whom she had lost track a few moments ago in the Level B2 Armoury, inside this very same building. Several moments when she was still on the way up inside the elevator, Nova had been tempted to resume chasing the elusive Spectre fugitive, but had ultimately decided not to. Emperor Arcturus Mengsk's orders had already been clear; obtaining information on the Brotherhood of Nod and bringing down this broadcast station was now her primary objective, and as long as this station stood, the pursuit of Gabriel Tosh would be put to the backburner. Her earlier actions in chasing the Spectre, ignoring her primary objective, were already considered to be unacceptable, even to her own personal opinion. She had decided that she had taken more than enough risks in defying Mengsk's orders. Besides, the blonde had this weird gut feeling that her new commander-in-charge, Colonel Akira Yamada, had been urging her to finish her mission up quickly so that she could assist in disabling this entire Nod base of operations by attacking from the inside and blowing up the base's vulnerable Power Plant clusters. Nova trusted her gut feelings most of the time, believing that these were caused by her powerful psionic senses picking up multiple thoughts from individuals far away and her mind had processed these information and concluded whether something good or bad was about to happen. This time was no exception; the blonde had decided to hurry up and resume her primary mission.

As Nova started to wonder where and how could she find a Red Security Clearance Card, the Ghost immediately detected several incoming presences coming down and heading towards her via the Section 3 elevator through her enhanced psionic senses. According to her senses, there were about 6 of them.

'Looks like those fools will never learn...' the Ghost mentally sighed as she hid behind a room corner and prepared for the shootout. With her ammunitions beginning to run low, Nova would have preferred to avoid engagement if not the fact that she needed to take a Red Security Clearance Card from one of those Nod elites who might be among the next wave of enemy assault. With one hand holding a flash grenade, while another gripping tight of her AGR-14, Nova waited patiently for the enemy to come.

* * *

(Seconds later...)

A cabal of 5 Confessors, led by a single Black Hand, exited from the Section 3 elevator and entered the room with their guns up. Before they spread out in search of their target though, the Black Hand sprayed his blue purifying flames across the room centre, hoping to flush out their foe in case he or she was hiding in the room with cloaking on. After a few seconds of spraying, the Black Hand felt that there should be no enemies present and ceased spraying.

"Room's clear! Everyone, remember to stay close and maintain formation. Our enemy is most likely cloaked and will try to pick us off one by one. Do not hesitate to shoot if you see any disturbance in the air." The Black Hand leader ordered.

Suddenly, from a corner of the room where the Confessor cabal was in, a flash grenade materialised out of nowhere and landed right in front of the team of 6.

"Grenade!"

Sadly, the warning came too late as shortly after the flash grenade hit the floor, it went out with a blinding flash. All 6 members of the Confessor cabal were instantly blinded. This was followed by several assault gauss rifle gunshots echoing across the room, resulting in 2 Confessors collapsing onto the floor, dead.

"Death to the enemies of Kane!" one of the remaining Confessors began to frantically shoot across the whole room with his C-1X heavy gauss rifle, hoping that a stray shot would hit whatever adversary that had blinded them and killed 2 members of their cabal. However, during his frantic shooting, the panicked Confessor accidentally shot another Confessor through the back of his head, killing the unfortunate Confessor. Before the Black Hand leader could shout at the panicked Confessor to calm down, a loud band was heard, before the frantic shooting stopped with the panicked Confessor fell onto the floor with a fatal headshot right through the middle of his conical helmet.

"Curses! Both of you... get behind me!" the Black Hand ordered the last 2 remaining Confessors.

Heeding their leader's warning, the surviving Confessors in the cabal immediately retreated while the Black Hand stepped forward. Their visions had started to recover from the earlier flash, but were still blurry. Still, the Black Hand had no intent to rest any longer and allow that wretched foe to continue thinning their numbers. Switching on the control valves of his Purifier flamethrower, the Black Hand sprayed the room with blue purifying flames, hoping to flush out, or even better, incinerate the hidden enemy. Just then, the Black Hand noticed a disturbance in the rising hot air current at one of the room corner which led to another room.

"There! Shoot it!"

One of the Confessors also noticed it as well and started firing at the wall corner with his heavy gauss rifle. After a few seconds of continuous fire, the remaining members of the Confessor cabal noticed that there was no sounds of gauss rifle rounds hitting flesh or a thud against the floor, meaning that the foe must have escaped.

"After it!"

The cabal quickly ceased fire and all 3 remaining members gave chase. As they turned around the wall corner however, none of them were aware that they had run into a trap.

BANG!

An echo of a canister rifle shot was followed by a violent explosion of the Black Hand's fuel tank, killing the once mighty elite Nod infantry. The explosion of the fuel tank alerted the 2 remaining Confessors, as they realised that their cabal leader was dead.

"Brother Victor has fallen! We must alert High Confessor Hugo!" one of the Confessors shouted, while the other one nodded in reply.

Sadly, before both Confessors could retreat, a long burst of gauss rifle rounds struck the pair in their legs, bringing both Nod soldiers down onto their knees. A second burst of rifle rounds struck through the helmet of one Confessor, ending his life. The last Confessor mustered all his last ounce of strength to lift up his heavy gauss rifle, intending to retaliate the unseen foe till the very end. His demise came shortly after the death his last cabal mate though, when a psyblade was seen piercing through the chest. Death was swift and the last Confessor could hardly put up a fight before his end.

* * *

'Still too easy...' Nova thought as she pulled her psyblade out of the dead Confessor's chest. With the latest wave of enemies dead near her feet, the Ghost began pilfering the bodies for any useful items, mainly grenades. Her main concern was hoping to find a Red Security Clearance Card from one of the deceased enemy soldiers so that she could use the above ground Section 3 elevator to gain access to the main broadcast studio on Level 6 of the building. Sadly, after about a minute of searching all the bodies, she found none. The highest security clearance card she could find was a yellow one from the slain Black Hand.

'A yellow card again from the heavy flamethrower. I think I can see a pattern in here; the coneheaded infantries carrying heavy gauss rifles will carry Green Security Clearance Cards while the robed heavy flamethrowers carry yellow ones. In the field, it seems that the coneheaded infantries higher ranked than the regular Nod militias and Marine-like infantries, but lower than the heavy flamethrowers. If assuming that the distribution of their security clearance cards are based on ranks, that means that there must be another type of Nod soldier that may be higher ranked and possibly even more powerful than the heavy flamethrowers.'

Nova knew that the Black Hands were actually formidable foes that should not be underestimated. Although she had already dispatched a lot of them with ease during her mission, she clearly knew that this feat was mainly contributed by her more superior long ranged weapon, her cloaking ability and her psionic powers. If she would have to face them head-on using none of the mentioned advantages, she would easily get toasted. She had already witnessed how one of these mighty caped soldiers burning down almost an entire squad of Marines before being taken down by a hail of gauss rifle fire, and she could bet that these Nod heavy flamethrowers could give their own Firebats and even the Protoss Zealots a run for their money. If those caped supersoldiers were already deadly enough, then what kind of other soldiers did the Brotherhood of Nod still harbour that could be deadlier. The only ones she could think up of are the Nod cyborgs, but it seemed unlikely that those half-machines would even need a security clearance card to get around. So what kind of soldier would carry a Red Security Clearance Card?

Suddenly, Nova recalled that one of the enemy soldiers in the earlier engagement had referred the term 'High Confessor'. Throughout the hours of engagements against the Brotherhood of Nod, Nova had learnt more than just what the Nod forces were capable of. By observing and listening to their conversations when she was hiding, the Ghost had a rough idea of the Brotherhood of Nod's military hierarchy in the field. From what she had heard, the cone-shaped helmeted infantries were called as 'Confessors' by the militias and lower ranked soldiers and they seemed to be of pretty high rank in the field. The caped heavy flamethrower infantries seemed to be of slightly higher ranked, but the lower ranked soldiers just referred them as 'Brothers', so they were probably not the 'High Confessor' that the 'Low Confessor' had mentioned earlier. So who exactly is the 'High Confessor'?

As Nova was still pondering on the question, her psionic senses suddenly detected more enemy presences heading down towards her direction. As she turned towards the elevator, she realised that the elevator had already went up and was now descending again, probably picked up a next wave of enemy infantries.

'More of them... good! Hopefully that High Confessor is among one of them this time!' the blonde mentally smirked as she reloaded her weapons and headed towards the same hiding corner where she initiated the first ambush earlier.

* * *

(Meanwhile... Level 2 Section 2...)

Inside an administration office chamber, the Spectre Gabriel Tosh was panting hard while hiding behind an overturned table.

'Damn it! Should have expected those Noddies to know how to weaponise those crystals!'

The Spectre's Nyx-class cloaking module was still fully functional and the current enemies he's currently facing did not seem to be equipped with any detection device. So that should mean that Tosh should have no problem disposing of the trio of Nod heavy infantries that he had engaged earlier... if not the fact that the office chamber was now almost flooded with a toxic greenish cocktail of death with a sinister miasma of green fumes. Something in Tosh's mind was telling that those chemicals flooding the chamber were not ordinary biochemical agents and must be avoided at all costs.

A few minutes ago, Tosh first engaged this group of enemy, consisting of 6 infantries, with 3 of them were regular Confessors while the other 3 were something different. Unlike their Confessor escorts, the other 3 wore red-coloured heavier versions of the Confessor armour, with 4 green visors instead of red on their red conical-shaped helmets. Instead of carrying C-1X heavy gauss rifle, each of them carried a what seemed to be an advanced chemical gun/sprayer hybrid weapon which was connected to a chemical fuel tank strapped to their backs. When the engagement began, Tosh had easily shot and killed the Confessors with a few bursts of heavy gauss rifle fire and a well-thrown frag grenade. However, everything soon turned downhill when the tougher High Confessors began to counter the invisible Spectre by spraying the entire chamber with their Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun. With the chamber flooding with green liquid Tiberium, Tosh had no choice but to retreat and find cover.

'Curse the spirits! Should have brought a canister rifle like that sister did! Oh well, I'll just have to find another way to kill them all...'

Tosh rummaged through all his accessories as he desperately tried to find a way out of this predicament. Without a suitable long range weapon to quickly take out his enemies from a distance, Tosh knew that he could not engage those High Confessors head on using just his heavy gauss rifle. He wanted to blow them off with a couple of rockets using his 'borrowed' rocket launcher, but sadly he had completely run out of rocket ammunitions. With his voodoo powers, he could maybe take out one or two of them, but three... he would definitely get a lot of hurt in the engagement and he did not want to get hurt by those sinister-feeling biochemical agents. Grenades would be his only options left, and those were running low as well.

'Well, it's now or never!'

Seizing a small opening, the dreadlock-haired Spectre tossed his last hallucination grenade towards the trio of High Confessors. As the High Confessors were too fixated in gassing the entire chamber, they did not notice the incoming grenade until it was too late. A few seconds after the yellowish green mist began spewing out, the crazed High Confessors had started spewing liquid Tiberium against one another. As the chaos among the High Confessors ensued, Tosh patiently waited for his enemies to destroy themselves.

The Heavy Confessor Powered Combat Suit that the High Confessors wore usually protected their users from chemical splashes or leakages from the hazardous use of Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun. However, even these advanced heavy infantry armour could provide little protection against direct liquid Tiberium exposure. In less than half a minute, 2 of the 3 High Confessors were liquefied alive, eaten away by the corrosive cocktail despite their Tiberium infusion, leaving a lone winner out of the free-for-all. Sadly for the lone winner, his victory was cut short as Tosh sprung out from cover and finished off the critically wounded Nod religious figure.

'Ooh... got to love those drug grenades! Hopefully those coneheads there may have some more. But first, let's check out those big red coneheads...'

Tosh put up a psionic shield to protect himself from the lingering biochemical agents spread across in the chamber before approaching and rummaging through the bodies of the dead High Confessors and to his joy, the Spectre found a red-coloured security clearance card that he desperately needed.

'Bingo! So these are the head honchos that are carrying the Red Security Clearance Cards. I guess these guys have to be some kind of big shots to carry such fanciful gadgets around them. Speaking of gadgets...'

The Spectre turned his attention towards the Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun and fuel tank package still attached to one of the dead High Confessors. After spending a few minutes studying the exotic weapon, Tosh decided to take the heavy cumbersome weapon, detaching the fuel tank from the High Confessor's armour and carrying it on his own back, while discarding the 'borrowed' C-1X heavy gauss rifle and the empty Twin Dragon Rocket Launcher. The Spectre even fiddled with the weapon for a while to familiarise its layout; he even found a transfer nozzle at the rear of the liquid Tiberium fuel tank which he used it to transfer fuel from the other dead High Confessors' fuel tanks into his 'borrowed' one. After feeling confident with his new toy, Tosh rummaged through the corpses of the slain Confessors and picked up all their left-over grenades, fragmentation ones and hallucination ones.

'Ooh... I can't wait to test out this new baby! After this is over, I guess I can consider leaving this to the Raiders as a souvenir...'

With a Red Security Clearance Card in hand, Tosh headed back towards the elevator, planning to return to that same computer terminal and use his newly acquired security clearance card to gain access to the restricted Nod data log entries.

* * *

(Meanwhile, back to Level 1 Section 3A...)

Nova was reloading all her weapons in anticipation of the approaching engagement. She had already sensed about 6 individuals approaching towards her current location and was now preparing to finish off those nuisances. Hiding behind the same wall corner where she had ambushed the previous Nod infantry wave earlier, the Ghost had her canister rifle held up in one hand while holding a flashbang in another. She waited patiently for her next set of victims.

Just then, she heard the sound of the elevator door opening, followed by several sets of heavy footsteps. The enemies had arrived.

Nova was crouching behind the wall corner, waiting for her foes to walk past so that she could surprise them from the back, when her psionic senses screamed at her to get out of the way. She heeded her own instincts and quickly dashed away from the spot... just right in time when a green liquid flooded out of the elevator room and spreading over the spot where she was crouching just seconds ago. It was a close call.

'So... they are resorting to chemical weapons now?' the blonde wondered. Nevertheless, the Dominion Ghost agent had to change her plans in confronting this group of enemies.

Nova quickly dashed towards the other end of the chamber, away from the enemy squad as far away as possible while still keeping up her cloaking. As she dashed across the chamber, enemy Confessors from the other end heard the footsteps and proceeded to spray rounds across the place. Fortunately, none of the rounds hit the blonde agent.

"She's close. Remain vigilant, brothers!"

As Nova reached the other end of the chamber, she could see that this squad of Nod infantries were made up of 5 'Low Confessors' and one infantry dressed in a heavier, red-coloured version of the standard Confessor armour, armed with some kind of weapon attached to a chemical fuel tank attached behind on the infantry's back. That red infantry was also the one that was now giving commands to the 'Low Confessors'.

'Hmm... I guess that must be the High Confessor that the Nod soldiers are referring to. Judging by his weapon, he must be the one that sprayed those liquids.' Nova concluded.

With the priority target clear in her sight, the female elite Ghost proceeded to take out the red-clad squad leader. Standing at a long distance, safely away from the chemical sprayer's range, Nova had her C20A canister rifle hoisted out and ready to fire. With the High Confessor's head within her scope, Nova squeezed the trigger before the High Confessor could continue flooding the room with his toxic spray. The canister round hit its mark, right dead-centre in the middle spot of the High Confessor's four green visors. The red-clad elite Nod soldier collapsed onto the floor, dead.

"No! High Confessor Hugo has fallen! Curse the heretic!"

With the death of the High Confessor, the other 5 Confessors flew into a mixture of rage and panic. Knowing that a sniper was in the chamber somewhere, the Confessors sprayed the entire room with heavy gauss rifle rounds, hoping that at least one stray shot could catch hidden agent and reveal his or her location.

As the Confessors were busy shooting all over the place, none of them had noticed that their psionic foe had hidden behind another wall corner just adjacent to the chamber where the Confessors were standing in. Then, without warning, a flash grenade was lobbed towards the Confessor cabal. Before the Confessors could react, the flash grenade ignited, covering the entire chamber in a loud, blinding light. Before the Confessors could recover from the momentary blindness, 3 consecutive sniper shots were heard, followed by the sound of 3 consecutive thuds onto the floor. The remaining 2 Confessors heard another sound of an object dropping onto the floor right below them, sounding like a grenade...

BOOOOOOMMM!

The fragmentation grenade exploded at close proximity just right in between of the Confessor pair, sending the 2 Confessors off their feet. One was killed immediately by the blast, while the other was severely wounded, evidenced by all his limbs twisting at odd angles. Despite his grievous wounds, the last Confessor tried to muster all his remaining energy to reach out for his dropped rifle, only to be stopped just inches way when Nova put another canister rifle round right through the Confessor's neck.

Nova lowered her canister rifle, grimacing while clutching her bleeding left shoulder. She was hit by a stray round when the Confessors sprayed their shots earlier. Although her cloaking was still working, Nova knew that her bleeding wound might leave a blood trail behind, compromising her position to the enemies. Taking out a syringe of first-aid serum from her first-aid kit, the Ghost quickly injected the medical drug directly into the gunshot wound. It was a painful treatment for the blonde, but she remained silent, a testament to her training in pain endurance. Within seconds after the drug was administered, the wound closed up with skins and muscles fully regenerated. With her injury taken care of, the Ghost approached the bodies of fallen Nod Confessors, rummaging for grenades to use.

'Hmm... my AGR-14 has run empty, and it isn't compatible with all these Nod weapons. Perhaps I should start using these Nod rifles.' With the decision made, Nova dropped her AGR-14 and picked up one of the C-1X heavy gauss rifles. 'A little heavy, but still manageable...'

The blonde also picked up ammunitions and grenades from the dead Confessors, before approaching the corpse of the High Confessor. Nova was interested with the High Confessor's unique chemical weapon, but felt that it was too cumbersome for a fleet-footed assassin like herself.

'Never mind. Once the boys stormed into this facility, they can pick it up and study it as much as they want.'

Just then, Nova noticed a card slipping out from the dead High Confessor's utility belt. She picked it up... and was delighted to find the item that she had been scouring the whole level for.

'A Red Security Clearance Card! Finally, it's time to head towards the primary objective!'

With the required security clearance card obtained, Nova headed back towards the elevator.

* * *

(Back to Level 1 Section 2...)

Gabriel Tosh returned back to the computer terminal at the administration counter. He accessed the data log entry regarding on the high profile Confederate adjutant again, and once again prompted to key in the access codes.

'Hopefully this is worth the time...' Tosh thought as he looked at the 'borrowed' Red Security Clearance Card which he had gotten from one of the High Confessors. Without hesitation, the Spectre keyed in the access codes found on the Red Security Clearance Card. Immediately after he pressed the 'Enter' key, the psionic mercenary was not disappointed.

'BINGO! Now let's take a look what this baby says... hmm... I see... so the Confederate adjutant known as Adjutant-23-46 was relocated to this... Outpost no. 20. Let's check the map around this area and Outpost 20 is at... damn I'm farrr off-course mon! Oh well, better than nothing!'

Tosh quickly copied down the whereabouts of Outpost no. 20 into a memory drive, before shutting down the terminal. With his destination known, the Spectre moved out, heading towards the nearest elevator.

'Now time to take that ride again. Hopefully it's still there...'

* * *

(Minutes later... Level B3 Section 2A...)

"Good! It's still there!" Tosh breathed out a sigh of relief as the Spectre spotted the Reckoner inside the ammunition storage room at Level B3 Section 2A, with a large hole in the wall behind. This was the same Reckoner which Tosh used to get into the building.

The white-eyed gun-for-hire quickly hopped back into the driver seat of the stolen Nod vehicle and shut the driver window. Using the map of the area that he copied earlier into the memory drive, the Spectre set the coordinates of Nod Bhekar Ro Outpost no. 20 into the Reckoner's navigation control. With the coordinates set, the Reckoner engine was revved up and the subterranean vehicle reversed its way back through the large hole in the wall where it came from.

As the Reckoner exited the perimeter of the Main Broadcast Station, Tosh decided that it should be safe enough to contact Raynor to let the raiders know that he had a lead on the whereabouts of their stolen adjutant.

" Yo brudda! Can you hear me bossman?"

"_bzzt... bzzzt... Tosh...? You there... bzzt... bzzt..._" Raynor's voice projected out from the other end of the transmission.

"Yeah... it's me, brudda. I'm still under the dirt so signal's going to be quite fuzzy mon."

"_bzzt... Wow... bzzt... you never contacted us for nearly two hours... bzzt... bzzt... we almost thought that you never made it... bzzt... bzzt..._"

"Do you have so little faith in me? You ain't forgotten that I'm a Spectre, the next-generation Ghost! There's nothing I cannot do!"

"_bzzzt... Glad to know that you're still alive... bzzt... do you have the adjutant... bzzt... bzzzt..._"

"Not yet, brudda, but I just got myself a juicy clue on where it's kept. Noddies' data log says that they brought a Confederate adjutant into this outpost which they call as no. 20. I got the map of the area and I'll be heading there now."

"_bzzt... Alright... keep me updated Tosh... bzzt... bzzzt... bzzzt... once you find the adjutant, download the memory of that adjutant and get out of there quick... bzzt... bzzt... I'm losing your signal... Tosh... I'll contact you later...bzzt... bzzzt... bzzzzzzzzz..._"

"Will do... I'll send you the coordinates for the rendezvous later. Tosh out!"

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Main Broadcast Station... Level 6 Main Broadcast Studio...)

Inside the Main Broadcast Studio, the Nod personnel were all fully armed and alert. Archdeacon Ricardo himself was now adorned in his own Black Hand flame hazard armour equipped with his trusty Purifier flamethrower. Due to his high rank, Ricardo's gears were heavily enhanced compared to normal Black Hand troopers; the output of his Purifier flamethrower was twice the power of the normal ones with purifying flame upgrade already installed into the weapon system, and his armour was more heavily armoured with healing Tiberium-based drug delivery system installed to treat any injuries sustained. Joining him in the defence of this room was a cabal of 12 Devouts, 6 Confessors, 6 Black Hand, 4 Shadow Warriors and 2 High Confessors; all of them were veterans who had fought alongside with Ricardo for years since the Nod Armed Forces were reformed after the Great War. Some of them were actually part of the commanding officers stationed in this base.

"Prepare yourself, brothers!" Ricardo warned his guards, "The Ghost is coming! Set some demolition charges on that elevator door. Seal up that elevator if necessary!"

"Understood, archdeacon!"

A Shadow Warrior approached the elevator door which would lead to the studio itself and planted a C4 demolition charge on the elevator door, hoping to blast the intruding Ghost into bloody pieces when she approached this level.

However, it seemed that Ricardo and his minions had severely underestimated the Ghost's capabilities.

Just right after the Shadow Warrior finished setting the charges, the elevator door was violently blasted open by a vicious psi blast, triggering the charges and killing the Shadow before he could retreat to a safe distance. The blasted off elevator door flew towards the remaining defenders, crushing another Shadow, 2 Devouts and a Black Hand trooper.

"The Ghost's here! All Black Hands: get towards the elevator site and burn down the intruder! I don't care if we destroy the elevator, kill the enemy!" Ricardo ordered frantically.

"Cleansing in the name of Kane!" the 5 Black Hands charged towards the elevator site and began spraying blue purifying flames, with one of them tossing a Holy Water grenade towards the site. The resulting firestorm appeared to have incinerated the elevator and whoever hiding inside.

Unknown to the Nod defenders, Nova was pretty much uninjured. Just moments before the Ricardo ordered the Black Hands to attack, Nova had already picked up their intentions through her psionic telepathy and reacted. Using her psyblade, the Dominion agent quickly cut a circular hole underneath herself and slipped through the hole, hanging onto a cable below the elevator within the elevator shaft, avoiding the firestorm that was raging inside.

As the firestorm raged on, Nova began her counterattack. Using her psionic telekinetic abilities, the Ghost levitated a hallucinogen grenade through the elevator and the firestorm and right into the Black Hand formation on the other side.

The result was devastating. After the yellowish-green mist from the hallucinogen grenade smoked the 5 Black Hands, blue purifying flames began to spray across the whole place. In the midst of chaos, another Shadow was incinerated.

Ricardo had witnessed the event and was enraged to see a holy weapon of Nod being used against their own brothers. Sadly, knowing the full details of the effects of their own hallucinogen grenade, the high-ranking elite Black Hand knew what had to be done.

"Put them down, brothers. They cannot be saved. If we are to let their frenzied state to continue, this entire holy building will be burnt down. Kill them, for the Brotherhood." the archdeacon declared solemnly.

"As you wish, archdeacon."

The rest of the defenders followed the order without hesitation. The 6 Confessors fired off their C-1X heavy gauss rifle alongside with the 10 Devouts firing their twin wrist-mounted chain guns, while the last Shadow dashed forward with his cloaking on and fired his twin gauss machine pistols. The hail of hypersonic spikes peppered against the crazed heavily armoured Black Hands. While the Black Hand's heavy armour protected the drugged elites from harm, one of the Black Hand was not so fortunate when the Shadow managed to get close enough to deliver an accurate headshot right through the mid visor. However, as a price of getting in close to deliver the kill shot, one Black Hand managed to put his flames onto the daring Shadow Warrior by luck when he was spraying wildly, despite the Shadow being cloaked. The unfortunate Shadow was immediately set ablaze, causing the Shadow to roll onto the floor in pain, desperate to put out the blue purifying flames. The Shadow would later die shortly after a few minutes.

The Confessors maintained their fire, and eventually managed to kill another crazed Black Hand with concentrated fire. Angered and driven crazy by the hallucinogenic drugs, the 3 remaining Black Hands began approaching towards their former battle brothers. Worried that the drugged Black Hands intended to burn all of them down, the Confessors stepped back, while the High Confessors finally began to take action. Knowing that spraying the room full of liquid Tiberium would not be effective against the heavy armour of the Black Hands, the High Confessors switched the configurations of their Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun from spray mode to particle beam mode. Before the crazed Black Hands could get in closer, the High Confessors fired their weapons. Ionised Tiberium particle beams easily sizzled through the targeted Black Hand and jumped onto the other two; the highly charged energy of the ionised Tiberium particle beam proved to be deadly against these heavily armoured Nod soldiers, which even their immunity against Tiberium poisoning from their Tiberium infusion could not protect them from. The last 3 Black Hands collapsed onto the floor with their bodies melted from the inside out, dead.

However, just when the Nod defenders thought that the madness was finally over, none of them noticed another grenade levitated towards their formation. This time, it was a flash grenade.

"Flashbang! Look out!"

The warning came a little too late, as the sudden flash instantly blinded all the Nod personnel inside the chamber. Before they could recover from the flashbang, Nova had used her telekinetic powers to levitate 3 fragmentation grenades and one more hallucinogen grenade towards the Nod infantry cluster.

THUD... THUD... THUD... THUD...

Before the Ricardo and his minions knew what happened, they felt the full effect of the grenade barrage.

BOOM... BOOM... BOOM... PSSSHHH...

The explosions caused by the 3 frag grenades instantly killed 6 Devouts and 2 Confessors, while 1 High Confessor and the rest of the 4 Devouts were exposed to the hallucinogen grenade. The affected 4 Devouts opened fire to the across the entire chamber, killing another Confessor through a stray headshot. The drugged High Confessor also fired his Tiberium-combi gun, still in particle beam mode, with reckless abandon, frying another Confessor as well as one of the drugged Devout.

Enraged by the unruly behaviour of his drugged minions, whom he blamed them for their own carelessness, Ricardo spent no time to hesitate in burning down his wayward minions with his enhanced Purifier flamethrower. The affected 3 Devouts and that High Confessor all stood little chance against the might of blue purifying flames.

"Take this as a final warning, brothers! I don't want anyone to fall into the same trick of getting drugged by the enemy hallucinogen grenades, is that clear?" the archdeacon barked out to the last remaining subordinates, consisting of 2 Confessors and 2 High Confessors.

With a large number of defenders being disposed of, as well as the firestorm that was burning the elevator was beginning to subside, Nova finally decided to get out of hiding beneath the elevator and headed out of the elevator shaft into Level 6 chamber. With her cloaking still on, the Ghost gave no prior warning when she suddenly launched a powerful psi blast towards the one of the High Confessors, crushing the elite Nod soldier against the wall with a splat. Before the others realised what had happened, the blonde opened fire with her picked up C-1X heavy gauss rifle, killing the last 2 Confessors with a fatal head and neck shot respectively.

Witnessing the gruesome deaths of his minions, the archdeacon wasted no time and started spraying the entire room with flames while the last High Confessor cleverly retreated behind his heavily armoured superior. The main broadcast studio was now burning with blue flames all over the place.

"You can't hide from me, little Ghost!"

By spreading flames across the entire room, the archdeacon had created a whole room full of smoke and hot rising air currents, revealing the silhouette of the cloaked Ghost.

"There! Shoot it!"

The High Confessor quickly responded to Ricardo's command and fired his weapon still in particle beam mode, since there was just only one enemy present. However, as if the Ghost had already sensed an imminent attack, the silhouette quickly dashed away from its original spot and disappeared again.

* * *

'Damned! The fire in the room is betraying my location. That leading commander is really clever to neutralise my cloaking like this.' Nova thought, as she lay flat against the floor to keep a low profile and avoid the rising smokes and air currents. In this position, it was difficult for her to counter attack. Both of her last remaining adversaries were heavily armoured infantries so the heavy gauss rifle would not likely be able to take them down quickly, giving them chances to spot her through rifle muzzle flash if she fired the rifle. Sniping them using her C20A canister rifle might work better, if not the fact that she found it difficult to headshot them from a lying position at close range. With no more grenades left, the blonde was left with only two more options.

With her psyblade gauntlet ready, Nova slowly crept towards the pair of Nod officers, who were both scanning across the room looking for her. The creeping was slow, steady and silent, until Nova positioned herself just less than a metre next to the High Confessor. Then, she struck.

Another powerful psi blast sent the last High Confessor headfirst right into the wall, ending with an audible crack, suggesting that the unlucky High Confessor had snapped his neck from the impact. The sudden attack alerted Archdeacon Ricardo, who was standing just about a metre and a half away from Nova's position. Before the heavily armoured high ranking Black Hand officer knew what had happened to his last comrade, Ricardo jerked as he suddenly found a psyblade sticking right through his torso. It was then when the archdeacon realised a silhouette was crouching right in front of him, with a light blue psyblade stabbing into his stomach region.

"GURRKK... Curse... youuu..."

Despite the lethal wound in his stomach, the elite Black Hand archdeacon remained standing and reached out his right hand, grabbing hold of his assassin's blade arm.

Nova was shocked when her last foe reacted to her assassination attempt and grabbed hold of her despite having delivered a fatal wound. The grip was tight and the blonde quickly realised that she was restrained by her dying opponent, who was beginning to slowly lift up his flamethrower with one arm.

'Shit! He's trying to roast me up close! I must break free!'

The smaller-built blonde Ghost struggled with her might to break away from the Nod archdeacon's grip, but she could not overpower the bigger man in a heavy powered combat suit. With one arm restrained, the Dominion agent could not reach out to her back and grab one of her rifles to retaliate. She was still resting her psionic powers, which she had abused just now to thin out Nod numbers. With the enemy flamethrower being held dangerously closer to her level, Nova had only left with one option.

Swiftly reaching down to her waist, Nova drew out her sidearm, a Dominion flak pistol. Despite being classified as a pistol, the sidearm fired high explosive rounds like those of canister rifles, making the weapon to behave more like a miniature shotgun than a pistol. Before Archdeacon Ricardo could fully lift up his Purifier flamethrower and squeezed the trigger, the Ghost had pointed the large sidearm at the Black Hand's head level.

"You're done!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Ghost pressed the trigger three times, unloading three explosive rounds right into the head of the Nod archdeacon. The blasts of the explosive rounds were so devastating that the elite Black Hand's head blew up instantly, leaving a headless corpse. The now headless Nod religious figure loosened both his grip on the Ghost and his own flamethrower. With the grip loosened, Nova could finally pull her blade arm off the now dead Nod archdeacon, leaving the body to collapse onto the floor and twitch for a few times before lying motionless.

'Now he's really dead. Judging by the badges on his armour and the number of people under his lead, I guess this guy could be the commanding officer in this building. With him dead, hopefully it will cripple the entire chain of command in this base after I'm done with it.'

With all hostiles in the room cleared, Nova approached the control terminal in the main broadcast studio unopposed. It seemed that Nova's mission to obtain Nod intelligence from this building was about to end in a success.

As Nova stood in front of the control terminal, the Dominion agent inserted her data storage drive into the computer terminal, attempting to download data files from the Nod database. The drive was synchronised to the adjutant on board of _Mjolnir_, which would help the Ghost to hack through the firewalls in the Nod database and boost the download speed. Once the data files were downloaded, those files would be instantly downloaded into the adjutant's memory drive as well. After this entire operation on Bhekar Ro was done, the Nova Squadron would bring those downloaded files back to Korhal so that the Dominion Intelligence Section could analyse them and learn more about the Brotherhood of Nod.

"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE... DOWNLOADING FILES... STANDBY..."

'Good! Now I'm almost done. Just have to wait for the adjutant to finish downloading the files...' Nova breathed out a sigh of relief when she heard the adjutant's announcement through the drive. This tiring mission was about to end soon...

Or so she thought...

Suddenly, without warning, the vidscreens of the control terminal began to flash red. At the same time, a deep masculine robotic voice echoed across the studio room.

"WARNING! UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO DATABASE DETECTED! INITIATING CYBERSPACE DEFENCE PROTOCOL TO AREA: BHEKAR RO BASE 10..."

'What the...?' Nova was surprised by the sudden announcement echoing across the studio room. It seemed that her attempt to hack into the Nod database had been detected by some kind of artificial intelligence program, probably some kind of Nod equivalent to an adjutant.

"ALERT! ADDITIONAL FIREWALLS DETECTED IN NOD DATABASE... DOWNLOAD PROCESS ON HOLD... INITIATING OVERRIDE SEQUENCE..." the _Mjolnir _adjutant announced as it tried to counteract the Nod's AI attempt to stop the download from the Nod database. "OVERRIDING SYSTEM SECURITY FAILED... INITIATING NEW OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... ALERT! NEW SECURITY SEQUENCES DETECTED IN NOD DATABASE..."

'Impossible! I can't believe that our adjutant can't beat the enemies' one!' Nova was shocked to find out that the adjutant on board of _Mjolnir_, one of the newest and most advanced adjutant model available in the Dominion, was outclassed by the Nod's AI program of this base in terms of cyberspace warfare. If the adjutant was unable to beat the security systems set by the Nod AI, it would not be able to download anything from the Nod database. She had to intervene if she wished to complete her mission.

The blonde Ghost immediately began to start typing command codes into the control terminal, hoping to use her own hacking skills to aid her adjutant to breach through the enemy network defences. Unfortunately, she could only type down a few words before the keypad input device of the control terminal got locked up, seemingly through remote control means.

"WARNING! UNAUTHORISED INPUT COMMANDS DETECTED FROM AREA: BHEKAR RO BASE 10!" the masculine voice of the Nod AI echoed again, "INITIATING NETWORK DEFENCE PROTOCOL... DELETING FOREIGN INPUT COMMAND STRINGS... DISABLING INPUT COMMAND AUTHORISATION IN BHEKAR RO BASE 10 CONTROL TERMINAL... SOURCE OF DATABASE INTRUSION DETECTED... INITIATING COUNTER-INTRUSION PROTOCOL... EXECUTING COUNTER-INTRUSION SEQUENCE..."

'Dammit! The enemy had locked up the terminal! Come on, adjutant... you can do this!' Nova prayed, hoping that the adjutant could eventually prevail.

"INITIATING NEW OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... OVERRIDING SYSTEM SECURITY FAILED!" the Dominion adjutant announced, earning a mental cursing from the Ghost. However, the situation on this cyberspace warfare was about to get worse for the Dominion side.

"INITIATING NEW OVERRIDE SEQUENCE... ALERT! FOREIGN MALICIOUS PROGRAM DETECTED... WARNING! SYSTEMS ERROR IN ADJUTANT-111-231 DETECTED..."

"Shit!" Nova cursed, realising that the enemy AI program had uploaded malicious programs into _Mjolnir_'s adjutant as a measure against intrusions by hostile artificial intelligence. If this would go on, she would risk irreversible system damage to Adjutant-111-231 and the _Mjolnir _losing its command and control network. With no sign that the adjutant could defeat the Nod's security systems, Nova aborted her mission by swiftly unplugging the data storage drive from the control terminal, ignoring the fact that the download process was incomplete.

"ALERT! UPLINK TO NOD DATABASE INTERRUPTED... WARNING! MALICIOUS PROGRAMS DETECTED... INITIATING SELF-DIAGNOSTICS SEQUENCE... QUARANTINE SECURITY THREATS IN PROGRESS..."

Ignoring the adjutant's status announcement, Nova was now trying to re-establish transmission uplink back to _Mjolnir _to check the status of the Nova Squadron flagship after its adjutant had experienced a cyberspace attack. At the same time, she wanted to report this unexpected turn of event to Commander Yamada and asked for further instructions. However, before she could proceed, a hologram projection in front of the control terminal suddenly phased in. When Nova turned her attention to the sudden hologram projection, she was shocked to see the projected figure. The hologram projected figure appeared to be a middle-aged man dressed in black and red priest-like robe with badges of the Brotherhood of Nod symbols pinned to the collar. The man was bald and had a pair of moustache and a goatee. Nova had instantly recognised the face of the man from the files provided by her emperor.

"Hello there little Ghost! You seem lost..." the projected figure greeted.

The Ghost did not immediately respond to the greeting, other than muttering out the name of the man in hologram projection.

"Kane..."

* * *

(Meanwhile... somewhere underground 10 miles away from Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10)

BEEP... BEEP...

'Hmm?' Gabriel Tosh was busy navigating his 'rented' Nod Reckoner towards Outpost no. 20 when he heard a faint beeping sound coming from a particular portable scanner that the Raynor's Raiders had handed to him. The Spectre quickly realised that there was a blip appearing in the scanner, which was not there when he first landed on this rock. The blip indicated that the object of interest was ahead inside his current destination: Nod Outpost no. 20. His boss Raynor had told him that this scanner would detect the signals emitted by a tracking beacon installed inside the Confederate adjutant which the Noddies had stolen from them. This signal proved that the adjutant was indeed inside that Nod outpost.

'So the Noddies do move that robot into that place huh...'

Tosh found that it was quite ingenious for the Noddies to move an important item into an insignificant-looking outpost like Outpost no. 20. The Spectre had the map layout of the outpost when he got the coordinates of the place from the Main Broadcast Station earlier. The outpost was very small, holding an Outpost building, a resource gathering structure, an infantry training facility, an operations centre and several Power Plants, guarded by several turrets, none of which were those Siege Tank-killing obelisks type. A normal enemy would not have expected the Noddies to have hidden a high profile target inside such rather poorly defended outpost.

'I guess this means that my job would be getting a little easier. Hopefully it ain't another trap...'

* * *

(Several minutes later... Nod Bhekar Ro Outpost 20... Operations Centre Command Room...)

Agent Archie was staring at the prized item that he had recently 'liberated' from the lowly Terran mercenaries that he had crushed on Deadman's Port: the Confederate Adjutant-23-46. This old artificial intelligence hardware was known to contain an intercepted transmission from the Dominion tyrant, Arcturus Mengsk, which proved the galactic tyrant's crimes against humanity by using a psi emitter to attract the Zerg to wipe out the entire populations on Tarsonis during the previous Great War, in which the process also created humanity's current worst mass-murderer: the Queen of Blades. The brief transmission also contained Mengsk's own confession of himself being a power-hungry warlord bent on ruling the entire sector and willing to watch the whole sector burn just to get more power. The Nod agent had played the adjutant over and over again ever since it was relocated to this outpost, confirming that each and every transmissions contained were genuine. If the Brotherhood could play and spread this transmission across the entire sector, it would severely weaken Mengsk's hold onto power. The people of the Koprulu Sector would learn that the so-called selfless emperor and mankind's saviour would be nothing but a hypocrite, a liar, a crook and most importantly, a mass-murderer of innocents. The Brotherhood now had the evidence to accuse the Dominion tyrant's treachery, all they just needed to do was to wait for the Commander to initiate the counterassault plans to wipe out the Dominion's grunts from this planet, then they would relocate the adjutant again into the Main Broadcast Station in Base 10 to broadcast the transmission.

Archie knew that the Dominion was here mainly because they had tracked Kane's broadcast through the UNN channel onto this planet, and they wanted to make Kane pay for 'spreading the lies regarding the Dominion' in front of the public. With the Main Broadcast Station on this planet being a chief target by the invading Dominion forces, it would be unwise to leave the adjutant inside that station. Although Outpost 20 was small and not relatively well-defended, Archie felt that it was a brilliant though risky idea to hide the adjutant in this outpost. The Dominion fools would not have suspected that a high profile item would be hidden inside this insignificant-looking area, and would have thought that the heavily defended bases would be the ones to hold the important things, wasting their troops to get through the heavy defences.

"WARNING! UNAUTHORISED SUBTERRANEAN APPROACH DETECTED!" LEGION's sudden warning alerted Agent Archie from his thoughts, "IFF TAG OF APPROACHING SUBTERRANEAN VEHICLE INDICATED TO BE ONE OF THE STOLEN RECKONERS IN THIS REGION... MARKING UNAUTHORISED SUBTERRANEAN VEHICLE AS HOSTILE..."

"LEGION, how much longer will that Reckoner reach this base? And exactly where is it heading to?" Archie asked. He was starting to get worried that the enemy might have seen through the facade and was beginning to search around the minor outposts for signs of the stolen Confederate adjutant.

"ACCORDING TO ITS CURRENT SPEED, ESTIMATIONS HAVE INDICATED THAT THE HOSTILE WOULD REACH THE BASEMENT LEVELS OF THIS BUILDING IN 10 MINUTES TIME... RECOMMENDING COUNTERMEASURE AGAINST THE INTRUSION BY DIRECTING ALL STATIONED INFANTRIES IN THIS OUTPOST INTO THIS BUILDING."

"Understood! LEGION, alert all infantries in the area to regroup inside this Operations Centre. Activate the internal automated security systems in this building. We must not let the adjutant fall into wrong hands!"

"AFFIRMATIVE..."

* * *

(10 minutes later...)

Gabriel Tosh was accelerating the Reckoner towards full speed; his destination just a few metres ahead. The Spectre had braved though the perimeter defence turrets of this outpost, charging straight through the underground of the defence line despite the turrets shooting at his position, causing tremors that would have severely damaged the vehicle's hull.

Then, the Reckoner hit its target. The full speed impact of the Nod subterranean armoured personnel carrier added with its mighty drill tips had smashed through a hole right into the basement level of the Operations Centre.

As the Reckoner came to a stop, Tosh exited out of the vehicle with his weapons prepped and ready. He could hear the sirens wailing inside this building and knew that the Noddies were alerted to his presence. In fact, he had already detected the approach of a large number of soldiers through his 'voodoo senses'.

"Killin' time!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Confrontations

Gabriel Tosh is now coming for the Confederate Adjutant-23-46, but he'll need to get past Agent Archie and his guards first. Meanwhile, Nova is confronted by the leader of the Brotherhood of Nod himself. What will happen next?

* * *

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: C-1X heavy gauss rifle (N), C20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Frag grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N), Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast, Nuke (currently disabled)

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N), Frag grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

Layout of Brotherhood of Nod Armed Forces

**Highest Command: **Kane

**Commanding Council: **The Inner Circle

**Main Branches:**

Nod Army

Nod Armada

**Army Branches:**

Nod School of Devotion (Nod Infantry Armed Forces)

Nod Sect of Engineering (Nod Engineering Division)

Nod Cult of Armour (Nod Armour Division)

Nod Shrine of Avatars (Nod Avatar Division)

**Armada Branches:**

Nod Sect of Aviation (Nod Air Force)

Nod Armed Fleet of Mariners and Maritime Warriors (Nod Navy)

**Elite Branch:**

Honour Guards of Kane

**Specialist Branches:**

Order of the Black Hand

Marked of Kane

**Others:**

Enlightened Cult of Scientific Research

Nod Harvesters Guild

* * *

Cybernetic Commando vs. Ghost

Here comes the fight where many people have been waiting for since I've started this unit verses section. To be frank, I've been trying to avoid pitting a unit against a Ghost because the exact combat capability of a Ghost is really very hard to gauge. This is because how well a Ghost can fight is highly dependent on the Ghost's own individual skills, experience, powers and psionic index level, and the gap between a rookie and an elite Ghost is vast. In the end, I decide to pit the Ghost against a Cyborg Commando, mainly because both are psionic supersoldiers and both can easily turn the tide of battle if used correctly. I'm not using Shadow Warriors because although Shadows can cloak like Ghosts, they are not psionic. The role of the Shadows more closely resembles to Terran Reapers, with the difference that they are like Reapers that can cloak. For this comparison, I'll be using the normal standard Ghost as a game unit in StarCraft 2, not the super strong heroic ones like Nova.

**Cyborg Commando:**

Nod Cybernetic Commandos are the strongest possible soldiers created by the Brotherhood of Nod. These half-man, half-machine walking weapon platforms are constructed only from the psionically-gifted individuals from the Brotherhood of Nod populations. Although how the Brotherhood integrate psionics into robotics is still a close-kept secret, Cyborg Commandos are capable of channelling their psionic energies through their Cybernetic Commando armour to enhance their strength and speed. Psionic energies are also channelled into their processors, allowing them to process data so quickly that they can make decisions and react past bullet speeds. Cyborg Commandos are the heaviest armoured infantries of the Brotherhood, yet their psionically enhanced strength, speed and reflexes allow them to move with grace and agility that are almost as good as a standard Ghost. Like Terran Ghosts, the armour of the Cyborg Commando is installed with a cloaking device and a Lazarus-class reactor, allowing Cyborg Commandos to cloak. With the latest advancement in Nod's stealth technology, Cyborg Commandos are now able to shoot while maintaining their cloaking as long as there is enough to energy available. The latest generation of Cyborg Commando's main weapon is the rapid-firing Gladius-class laser cannon fixed to its right arm gauntlet, capable of destroying almost any type of armour from a distance with rapid repeated shots. Its most powerful weapon, however, is the super-charged plasma cannon fixed onto its left arm. The super-charged plasma cannon is a very powerful weapon, capable of destroying Crucio-class Siege Tanks in a single shot, though the weapon is so highly energy-intensive that each shot would drain more than half of the reserves in its reactor. Cyborg Commandos are very tough and hard to destroy. It is known that some Cyborg Commandos have secondary reactors installed into their armour, allowing them to recover quickly from EMP assaults. Some Cyborg Commandos are also known to keep on fighting even suffering from grievous damages, such as losing the entire lower limbs but can still keep on moving and fighting solely by crawling on its arms alone. Being cyborgs, Cyborg Commandos are considered as both biological and mechanical units, hence they can be healed by friendly medics or repaired by Saboteurs in the midst of battles; but they can also be affected by many adverse special attacks such as lockdowns and irradiation. Though due to the special nanites planted inside their circulatory systems, Cyborg Commandos can heal under Tiberium radiation, resistant to poisoning and totally immune to Zerg infestation and mind control. While Cyborg Commandos can be directly ordered and controlled by their commanders, most of the control falls to the Brotherhood's advanced AI program known as LEGION, which can directly synchronise itself to a Cyborg Commando and guide it throughout an entire mission.

**Ghost:**

Ghosts are first trained by the Terran Confederacy from the psionically-gifted individuals. The chosen individuals are trained from infancy to channel their psionic energies to augment their natural physical strength and endurance. Those that have successfully completed the Ghost's Program's rigorous training and augmentations will serve as commandos and assassins. After the collapse of the Terran Confederacy regime, the Terran Dominion adopted a near identical program to train its own Ghosts. Ghosts are trained in target shooting, close quarter combat and vehicular expertise. They are also trained to move quickly and are desensitised to combat. Ghosts channel their psionic energies through their issued hostile environment suits mainly to augment their physical capabilities, increasing their own strength, speed and reflexes. These suits are usually installed with a cloaking device and an external power supply, usually a Moebius-class reactor; these devices all need the Ghost's own psionic energies as components. Cloaking and quick movements, sometimes added with ocular implants, make Ghosts an excellent unit for reconnaissance and infiltration missions. The psionic powers of Ghosts also allow them to read minds, though most of them cannot block their own thoughts. Few of the more powerful Ghosts with very high psionic index levels are capable of using their psionic powers to whole new level; Nova, for example, can psionically mind control weak-minded enemies and detect other psionic beings in the vicinity, and can even directly damage her opponents through devastating psionic blasts. While psionic powers can be powerful weapons for Ghosts, their main weapons used in combat are still their issued firearms and knives. Ghosts can be armed with a wide variety of weapons issued by the Confederacy or Dominion, but their most common weapon of choice is the C-10 canister rifle, which many Ghosts are well adapted to using them as high-powered sniper rifles. The deadliest capability of a Ghost is the ability to call down tactical nuclear strikes by painting the targets. Ghosts are generally loners and usually work alone. Due to their feared psionic capabilities, the Confederacy and Dominion had made many measures to restrict their Ghosts' full psionic potentials in fearing of their own Ghosts using their psionic powers against them. Since the Kerrigan incident, Dominion Ghosts had been subjected to psionic inhibitors and frequent memory wipes to make them into loyal, obedient supersoldiers. Ghosts have little weaknesses, other than their lack of armour and heavy weapons which make them vulnerable when confronted with a heavy armed and armoured opponent.

**Comparison:**

Since both units can cloak and cannot detect hidden units unless with detector support or the combatants' own psionic powers are strong enough, this battle between Cyborg Commandos and Ghosts will be carried out without cloaking. The Cyborg Commando involved in the battle will be a newly constructed one, not a heroic one that can auto-repair or have secondary reactors that can allow it to instantly recover from an EMP attack. The Ghost involved will be an average standard Ghost armed with a standard C-10 canister rifle with normal explosive rounds and EMP rounds. Clearance to Nukes is allowed for the Ghost.

Being the largest and heaviest cyborgs built by the Brotherhood of Nod, Cyborg Commandos are much bigger and heavily armoured than Ghosts. Both combatants use their psionic energies to augment their physical capabilities, giving them impressive strength, speed, agility and reflexes, though the Cyborg Commando will most likely have the slight edge in strength and speed due to robotics, while the smaller statured Ghost will have the slight edge in agility and reflexes.

In terms of weaponry, Cyborg Commandos' Gladius-class laser cannons are more effective against any form of armour and their rapid-firing capabilities allow Cyborg Commandos to deal more damage per second. The Ghosts' C-10 canister rifles usually fire explosive rounds that are strong against lightly armoured units but not as effective against heavily armoured foes, though many Ghosts are able to use their skills as expert snipers to snipe at critical points of biological units to kill them quickly with a few quick shots. If a Cyborg Commando and a Ghost will to go head-on against each other, the Ghost will have the initial edge with his/her longer weapon range and sniping skills. However, in close quarter combat, the heavily-built Cyborg Commando will have the significant edge over its Ghost counterpart. Even though the Ghost may be able to counter the bigger cyborg's brute force with his/her agility and reflexes, the Ghost will have trouble avoiding the rapid-firing Gladius laser cannon.

If the Cyborg Commando is to use its super-charged plasma cannon, a single hit will be more than enough to obliterate the Ghost. If the Ghost manages to avoid the attack, however, the Cyborg Commando will not be able to shoot the plasma cannon again as it needs time to generate the necessary amount of energy to fire a second shot. The Ghost's EMP rounds, on the other hand, are less energy intensive and a few hits can render the Cyborg Commando powerless, restricting its mode of attack to only its primary laser cannon. The Ghost can choose to paint the Cyborg Commando to a tactical nuclear strike if he/she wants to, but that will only be successful if the Cyborg Commando does not notice it. A successful nuclear strike is also more than enough to destroy the Cyborg Commando, but it is time consuming and the Ghost has to remain stationary while marking his/her target, making the Ghost especially vulnerable during the brief target painting period. Also, if the Ghost is to fail marking the target for a nuclear strike, the strike will fail as the nuclear missile fails to log on towards the target area.

While psionics enable Ghosts to read minds of others, especially the minds of another psionic individual, it is likely that Ghosts can pick up the thoughts of a Cyborg Commando, hence sensing its approach. The problem is even though the Ghost can read the mind of the Cyborg Commando, he/she cannot translate the binary-coded computerised mind of the cyborg warrior. On the other hand, the psionically enhanced processor in the Cyborg Commando does not detect the thoughts of the Ghost opponent, rather it helps the Cyborg Commando to process events and data much more quickly than a normal supercomputer, allowing it to adequately react to sudden assaults. Hence throughout this battle, psionics will only be useful to enhancing the combatants' own physical capabilities and augment their tools.

Cyborg Commando's edge:

Stronger firepower

Durability

Slightly faster

Super-charged plasma cannon for instant kills

Immunity to telepathy

Ghost's edge:

Longer weapon range

Snipe shots can down a Cyborg Commando quickly with few accurate hits

EMP rounds

Slightly more agile

Nuke can instant kill everything

**Conclusion**

Cyborg Commando wins if:

In a close range combat, when the Cyborg Commando manages to catch the Ghost in an enclosed area, such as indoors. A few bursts of rapid-firing laser cannon shots or a single super-charged plasma cannon shot will be more than enough to finish off the Ghost in such close range combats.

Ghost wins if:

In a long range combat, when the Ghost catches the Cyborg Commando out in the open. Before the Cyborg Commando can close in, a skilled Ghost sniper can instantly take out the Cyborg Commando with a few well-placed shots into the head. Even if the Cyborg Commando is to close in while reacting and avoiding to the sniper rounds, one or two EMP rounds will also give the Ghost an edge in disrupting the Cyborg Commando's system, reducing the overall combat capability of the cyborg supersoldier. Although a tactical nuclear strike can kill a Cyborg Commando, this scenario will least likely to succeed as the Cyborg Commando will most likely to be alerted by the nuclear launch and will react accordingly to avoid the blast, or quickly locate and kill off the Ghost marking the nuclear launch.

* * *

So another chapter ended. I have begun adding a new section to portray the Brotherhood of Nod's military organization in this fic, and I will be getting into details of some of these Nod military branches in the later chapters. In this chapter's unit verses section, it is quite a surprise to me that the Ghost actually has a higher chance to win this combat, mainly because of sniping abilities. Still, this is the so far the hardest battle to predict since I have mentioned earlier that it is difficult to exactly gauge the capabilities of psionic individuals.

I've recently played the Heart of the Swarm campaign and I really love the story of Kerrigan's journey of love, redemption and revenge, and all the characters that she had interacted inside her Leviathan. I kind of wonder how the new Kerrigan and her swarm can hold up against the final ultimate enemy, if just one of Amon's subordinate (Narud) can be able to evenly match against the new Queen of Blades in power alone. Maybe in the Legacy of the Void, there will be an unholy alliance of all 3 StarCraft races (Terrans, Protoss and Zerg) against Amon and his minions (Hybrids, and possibly manipulated or mind-controlled Terrans, Tal'darim Protoss and feral Zerg that still have Amon's taint).

Once again, I will try to finish the next chapter as fast as I can despite having other things in my life.


	28. Act 27: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Confront

Here's another new chapter everyone. I've finally finished my university years, though I'm still looking for jobs, I do have a little more time available for me to hasten my story update speed.

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

LOW POWER!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

Before we start, here's a brief review on Nova and Tosh's equipments so far...

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: C-1X heavy gauss rifle (N), C-20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Frag grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N), Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast, Nuke (currently disabled)

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N), Frag grenades, Hallucinogen grenades (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

**ACT 27: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: CONFRONTATIONS**

(Bhekar Ro... Nod Base 10 Main Broadcast Sation... Level 6 Main Broadcast Studio...)

"Kane..."

Nova muttered, staring at the hologram projection of the bald middle-aged man with black and grey moustache and goatee. She had not expected the self-proclaimed leader of the Brotherhood of Nod to pay her a visit.

"So you know who I am... I see that Mengsk must have you well-informed. That's right little Ghost, I am Kane. So tell me, what is a Dominion agent doing in my favourite galactic broadcast studio? This is my studio, not the UNN studio that your emperor loves to order around." Kane asked with a mocking tone.

"I have no obligations to answer you, criminal. Where are you?" Nova interrogated.

"If you are thinking about looking for me on this planet, then I will answer you that you are too late. I know that it will be a matter of time before you people will track down my little propaganda speech onto this planet. After I left that little motivational speech, I had already left this planet for other more urgent matters to attend. Though it kind of surprises me when LEGION suddenly inform me that someone is trying to extract every files from my database. Surely, isn't it rude to take something that doesn't belong to you?"

"So you left this planet after you're done with your illegal propaganda speech, and left your men behind to fight against the might of the Dominion? You're just another coward like all other terrorist scum."

"My children already know that it is their duty to keep your Dominion forces occupied while I pave the way for the Brotherhood's final destiny. They know the risks and they have gladly accepted their fate that they may die for the Brotherhood's final cause. They fear no death, unlike the cowardly troops that I find in your Marine Corps. You call me a coward, so does that mean that your emperor is a coward too?"

"How dare you speak ill of Emperor Mengsk, terrorist scum! When I find you, I'll make you regret of making yourself as an enemy of the Dominion!"

"Feisty, aren't you, Agent Nova?"

"What?" Nova was surprised when Kane suddenly referred to her name, "How do you know my name?"

"Oh it's simple, my child. When you begin to hear that the Dominion has trained a young female Ghost who is rumoured to be the second coming of the legendary Ghost agent Sarah Kerrigan before her transformation into you-know-who, you will kind of turn your full attention to this rising star. Your talents have made you famous even if you haven't realised it yourself, Nova. So don't be surprised if you find your next assassination target recognising your face before you silence him. As I have just said, if you call me a coward for leaving my men to fight my battles on their own, then does that make Arcturus Mengsk a coward too? I believe that he had left even more of his men behind during his reign, and we all know one particular person who will become his biggest mistake ever made. So tell me, how many men had he left to feed the Zerg, or left them to the mercy of Protoss blades? Shouldn't I call him a coward too?"

"It is different! Emperor Mengsk may have made a lot of sacrifices, but they are all for the sake of saving and uniting humanity! What you're doing is disrupting the peace that he had spent so hard to build!"

"Really? So are you saying that it is valid for him to ruin the lives of millions just to keep his own little empire safe? Do you even agree with every decision he'd made?"

Nova fell silent. She wanted to rebut the bald terrorist leader's claim but she found herself unable to. In truth, Nova did not like to perform some of the tasks that her emperor had given to her, namely assassination missions of the emperor's political enemies and sometimes political figures of foreign nations. Every time when she assassinated a target, she could not avoid looking into the minds of her target when she snuffed out of her target's life. Through those times she would know that she had ruined the lives of some families by killing their loved ones, all because of her emperor's orders. Although she had undergone through quite a number of memory wipes, Nova could still recall bits of her past and she could still remember how it was like to lose a loved one, just like how she lost her whole family to anti-Confederate rebels on Tarsonis. Despite her dislike for such missions, she would still carry them out anyway. Nova had treated her life as a Dominion Ghost as a mean to distract herself away from her painful past, with the mandatory memory wipes the only way to make herself forget all her pains and guilt. It did not matter to the blonde on how much pain she had caused to her victims, as long as she could forget about them after her missions. As long as she continued her career as a Ghost, she would not care whether she liked working for Mengsk or not.

"It doesn't matter, criminal. I'm just following his orders." the Ghost replied.

"Hmm... I sensed some hesitation, Miss Terra." Kane remarked, noticing the Nova's pause in between their conversation. "So you are aware that your emperor is not the saint as he claimed to be, then why do you still insist in working for the Dominion?"

"I have no obligations to answer your questions!"

"Is it because of your past, Miss Terra?"

Nova froze upon Kane's mentioning of her own past. The Nod prophet smirked as he sensed her uneasiness and resumed his verbal assault.

"Is it because the Dominion had promised you that you will forget about your past pains and sufferings if you work for them? If that's your only motive to become the Dominion's weapon, then I can't help but pity you, Agent Nova. I also find it ironic that you will call me a coward for running away from this fight while leaving my men behind, when you yourself have been running away from your own past. You may try to forget and deny them, but you know that they will always be there. The death of your family... the deaths of all those people you've killed... I think I can call you a coward too."

"I'M NOT A COWARD!" Nova shouted in denial; her mind clearly shaken by Kane's claims.

"Aren't you? What a sorry state you're in, Agent Nova. You have so much talents, young one. You can become so much more than just a weapon. Why not leave the Dominion and join my side?"

The blonde glared into the eyes of the hologram projected Kane with rage. After all those taunts and verbal assaults, how dare that terrorist to even try to convince her to switch side.

"NEVER! Why should I even join a terrorist like you?"

"You should reconsider, my child. I've seen your future, Agent Nova. The Dominion is holding you back from reaching your full potential. With so much power at such a young age, you are destined for greatness! It is a pity that you've been reduced to nothing more than just an obedient hound for the Dominion, when you have the potential to become something greater! You want to forget the past? The Brotherhood of Nod can give you a new life. You want to think about your future? We can help you to reach your full potential and fulfil your true destiny. You want to fight to protect humanity? The Terran Dominion is nothing more but a parasite leeching from its own people to inflate its own false sense of domination. It is also leeching from you, and I will assure you that once those oppressors of the people feel that you are of no further use to them, they will discard and leave you to rot, just like how Mengsk had done to Kerrigan. This shouldn't be the destiny of someone deemed for greatness; someone who have the power to change the universe; someone who can become the key to humanity's future! It is not too late, my child. Break your ties with the Dominion, and join our side. If you still desire to work for Mengsk, I'm afraid that you will truly become the second coming of Sarah Kerrigan, if you know what I mean."

"Join you?" Nova scoffed, "No way I will join terrorists like you. You have spoken as if you are certain that you can defeat the Dominion. You are certainly more arrogant than I have imagined. Your Brotherhood of Nod may have defeated and annihilated the Omega Squadron on Mar Sara, but I can assure you that you will not find any victory when you face the full might of the Terran Dominion. You have already made a mistake of declaring war against an enemy you cannot win. The Alpha Squadron and the First Fleet alone will wipe your little military resistance off from the face of this sector, just like what they did to countless rebels and alien invaders. How can I find my destiny in a terrorist group that will not stay active for long? Give it up, Kane. I've seen through your lies. You will never win this war, and I will never join you!"

The hologram figure of Kane stared at Nova, first with a look of indifference when he heard Nova's refusal to join his side, then turning to a grin for some reason.

"I'm impressed, Agent Nova. Your absolute faith to the Dominion is truly inspiring, though foolish to an extent. I believe you have assumed too much, Miss Terra, and for someone of your profession, you should know that blind assumptions will only lead to failure. You've said that I've made a mistake in assuming that I would win the war against the Dominion, then let me ask you this question... do you assume that we are like all the other insignificant rebels that your emperor had destroyed in the past? Do you even think that my forces on Mar Sara are the best of the Brotherhood?"

"That doesn't matter. The Dominion had survived all kinds of challenges. Rebels, insurgents, the Confederacy, the Kel-Morians, the UED, and the Protoss. Not even the Zerg can fully destroy the Dominion. You and your group will be no different."

"It's a shame that the Dominion had planted so much false ideas into your mind to make you think that they are invincible. Don't worry, my child, the Dominion would soon face its inevitable downfall and that will be the moment when your eyes are fully opened to the truth. My offer will still stand, Agent Nova... but that's if you can survive my little test..."

"Test? What test?" Nova asked, having a bad feeling when the enemy leader mentioned that he would be testing her.

"Oh it's just a simple test, very easy for someone of your calibre. Your presence in front of me alone already tells me that Archdeacon Ricardo and his elite guards are dead. You've just killed the highest commanding officer in this little base, and I guess that the remaining units defending Base 10 will be alerted by the death of their commander by now. In fact, LEGION is about to broadcast this news to all of them outside this building. I can assure you that when they hear about the death of their archdeacon by your hands, they will want your blood. Let's see if you can be able to survive their vengeance."

Just as Kane had proclaimed, the same robotic masculine voice of the Nod AI program that had stopped Nova and her adjutant's download attempt echoed across the studio room, "WARNING! ENEMY GHOST DETECTED IN THE MAIN BROADCAST STUDIO IN LEVEL 6 OF THE BROADCAST STATION. ALL UNITS IN BASE 10 ARE TO REPORT TO THE MAIN BROADCAST STATION..."

Shortly after LEGION's announcement, Nova could feel some commotions outside the building. Using her psionic senses, she could pick up the presence of multiple hostiles approaching the building. She was getting surrounded.

"Your test shall begin now, Agent Nova." Kane announced with a smirk, "If you happen to change your mind now, you can just say it right here. If not, then I hope that you will survive this test so that you will still have a chance to change your decision in the future. Here's a little parting tip to you, Agent Nova; do not assume the Brotherhood of Nod as just another terrorist organisation. Everything that I'd said on that broadcast is all true to the last word. The days of the Terran Dominion are numbered and your master will not reign supreme for long. Once the Dominion is destroyed, without your master you'll become just an unwanted tool... without a purpose... without a future. You'll just experience even more pain; pain from the memories of your guilt and failure to protect the Dominion, and they won't be there to wipe your memories for you. The Brotherhood of Nod will be victorious in the end..."

"Not when I'm still breathing, Kane. I'll make sure that you and your organisation will fail!" Nova finally had enough of the projected bald man's blabbering and decided to take action. She drew out her flak pistol and fired a shot at the hologram projector, shutting down the projection. The hologram figure of Kane flickered for a few seconds before vanishing into thin air.

'I have failed my primary objective... but at least what I can do now is to help Commander Yamada to capture this broadcast station and destroy this base.'

Nova knew that as long as the Nod AI program was still online, there was no way she could complete the task that Emperor Mengsk had given to her. However, she could still complete the mission that Commander Yamada had asked her to do after she had supposed to have finished downloading data files from this station: to destroy the enemy base power-supplying structures.

'I have to get out of here first!'

* * *

(Meanwhile... Nod Bhekar Ro Outpost no. 20... Operations Centre Basement level...)

Gabriel Tosh stood victorious in the midst of a carnage. Surrounding the psionic mercenary were scores of green goo and melting bodies of dead Nod soldiers of varying types, ranging from lowly Militants to the elite Black Hand troopers. The Nod chemical gun really worked wonders in clearing mobs like these.

The Spectre himself was relatively fine, other than a few shot wounds on his right shoulder and left thigh. The psionic shield that he had put up did its work well to protect its master from too much harm when the mob of Nod soldiers stormed into the chamber and sprayed shots all across the place, since he himself was cloaked. With a couple of frag and hallucinogen grenades, the Spectre turned the enemies' numbers against themselves before he used the 'borrowed' chemical gun to melt the Noddies right in front of his eyes. It was truly a spectacular sight.

Despite the wounds on his shoulder and thigh, Tosh was feeling fine. When he had started using the Nod chemical gun, Tosh had placed a custom-built rebreather to protect himself from the fumes of the Nod chemicals. Not only did the rebreather filtered through the air that he breathed in, it also pumped terrazine gas, which enhanced his psionic powers as well as acting as a stimulant. His wounds were also not life-threatening and with terrazine flooding his circulatory system, the Spectre's own battle rush could help him ignore the pain.

Just then, Tosh heard a commotion in the midst of the melting Nod carcasses. The Spectre raised his psionic sense and detected that one of the Confessor had managed to survive his massacre, though he would not be living for long, if his fully melted away arms were any indication.

"So we have a survivor... good cos' now I'll know who should ask for information in this building." the mercenary remarked to himself as he approached the dying Confessor.

As Tosh stopped just right in front of the still living crippled Confessor, the fatally wounded Confessor mustered the rest of his strength to raise his head. Four red visors of the coneheaded Nod soldier stared intensively at the white eyes of the Spectre, who decided to reveal himself and let the Confessor know who was the one who had killed off all his fellow brothers.

"I... I won't... tell a... a single word... heretic!" the Confessor spat.

Tosh remained indifferent. In fact, he was actually a bit of amused to think that the Confessor would think that a Spectre would need to interrogate his victims through words. He would show him the Spectre's way of interrogation.

"Oh don't worry, my friend. You don't need to..." Tosh replied, as he grabbed the frontal chest plate of the Confessor's armour and lifted him up to chest level, despite the weight of powered combat suit.

"You... you're wasting your time... tortures... won't break me..." the Confessor muttered in his final act of defiance.

"I don't need that too..."

With that being said, Tosh began to focus his mind as he channelled his vast psionic powers deep into the mind of his Confessor captive. The Confessor froze as Tosh's telepathic powers invaded deep into his mind and searched across every corners of the wounded Nod soldier's mindscape. His mind was in a state of a near shut down, forced to stay dormant by the Spectre's psionic powers to make searching for knowledge and memories easier when the mind was in this state. To the Confessor, this 'mental interrogation' seemed to have taken hours, if not days, but only seconds had passed in reality.

"Hmm... let's see... ooh... Agent Archie huh? So the adjutant's with him... top floor... I see... thanks for the tips, mon. Now you can go to sleep... forever..."

After finding the necessary information he needed, Tosh mercilessly channelled excessive psionic energies into the Confessor's mind, killing the Noddie with a psionic mind blast.

With the exact location of the Confederate adjutant known, Gabriel Tosh resumed his march towards the elevator of the Operations Centre, not before picking up all the grenades left over by the pool of dead Nod soldiers; especially the hallucinogen grenades, which was steadily becoming into Tosh's favourite.

* * *

(Back in Base 10... Main Broadcast Station Level 6...)

Nova had arrived at Level 6 main lobby, which was much more well-furnished compared to the other parts of the building. The lobby walls were painted with bright colours and hung with many artistic paintings with the whole lobby being decorated with elegant carpets and neat-looking soft couches. From her given intelligence, Nova knew that this intergalactic broadcast station already existed and was in use by the Dominion before the Brotherhood of Nod secretly took over and converted this station for their own use. Judging by the difference in the layout, Nova believed that this lobby was the least changed part of the whole station.

However, interior design was not part of the Ghost's concern right now. Nova had arrived to this part because this was one of the few areas where there were side glass windows present; windows that connected to the outside world. This would be the route of escape for the Dominion agent.

With her cloaking still on, Nova took a peek outside the glass window; and she found the situation to be very grim. Nod soldiers of all classes and sizes were rushing into the building squad by squad, while Nod vehicles were lining up and surrounding the station. With Nod vehicles guarding at the outside, and scores of Nod infantries storming into the building and trying to get her inside the building, Nova knew that she was trapped.

'Dammit! How do I get out of here?' the Ghost pondered.

Just then, Nova's psionic senses picked up the approach of a massive number of units from beyond the base. As the blonde fine-tuned her senses, she identified them as a mixed strike force of infantries, walkers and tanks sent by Delta Squadron. In other words: friendlies.

'So the Delta Squadron boys are about to make another attempt to smash into the base. An impressive army they've rallied this time but I don't think it'll be enough if those Nod defence structures are there and all those information about the Nod obelisks are true. If those Delta boys can manage to get inside, they may distract the Nod forces surrounding this building and I can seize my chance to escape. The question is how can I make sure they get in?'

Nova knew that it would be impossible for her to get back down and exit the building directly through the main entry point; she would inevitably encounter an unknown number of Nod infantries that were storming into this building at this point. Even if she did get out, she would have to face those Nod vehicles and defence turrets guarding outside the building, which she was ill-equipped to deal with. She could still try to slip out of the building by leaping through the window and steadily scale down through the building wall, but there was still the problem of Nod vehicles and turrets. She knew that each and every Nod turrets were detectors, so were the Nod bikes among the guarding Nod vehicles; each of these detectors could pick up her signature despite her cloaking. She would need to think up of another way to get out.

As the Ghost scanned across the area from her higher vantage point, Nova saw a cluster of modular structures which featured a set of chimneys connected to a sort of reactor that seemed to run on some kind of green liquid substance. She instantly recalled them to be Nod Power Plant structures from Colonel Yamada's briefing. She also recalled that unlike most Terran structures, Nod structures run on external power source generated by these Power Plants. When the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron attacked Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform earlier, the Nod impressive array of defence turrets instantly failed to function when these Power Plant clusters were destroyed; a testament of this critical weakness of Nod base design.

'If I can destroy those Power Plants, I could shut down the defence turrets inside this base. That would mean those Nod obelisks would fail and the Delta boys could storm in. Still, how am I going to destroy them when I can't slip out or use a nuclear strike?'

As Nova resumed surveying her surrounding, looking for a solution, she spotted one particular weird-looking Nod vehicle parking in front of the building along with other Nod vehicles. That vehicle appeared to be a fusion of a Perdition Turret and a set of tank threads, and Nova quickly recalled that this particular tank functioned as something like a mobile version of a Perdition Turret, but with an even more volatile firepower. During the battle on top of the orbital platform, there were reports of many Marines being instantly burnt down into cinders by those tanks in a single burst of flames. There were also reports of such tanks incinerating Supply Depots and even fully fortified Bunkers in seconds, proving that the sheer firepower of these tanks was strong enough to level down structures as well as incinerating infantries...

'Wait... those Perdition tanks do have the firepower to burn down structures in an instant... I know just what to do now...'

Nova gave a wide smirk, having a devious plan in her mind. If this plan could succeed, she might even help to fully cripple the defence system of this entire base.

* * *

The Nod armour column, consisting of Raiders, Attack Bikes, Scorpion Tanks, Flame Tanks and Stealth Tanks had the main broadcast station surrounded. The commander of this armour column, the tank commander in the lead Scorpion Tank, had given orders to encircle around the station and made sure that the Ghost would not try to escape from the building. If the Ghost was sighted, they were given orders to fire upon the damned intruder. The Attack Bikes were there to spot out their elusive target if the Ghost was to cloak itself. With the death of Archdeacon Ricardo, these Nod combatants were not going to let the accursed assassin get away unscathed.

As the Nod vehicles diligently lined up and encircled around the station, infantries were rushing into the building, planning to kill the hidden assassin inside or flush it out of this building and allow the armour column to finish it off. So far, the Ghost had not shown itself yet, so the armour column resumed the waiting game.

Just then, the lead Scorpion Tank commander spotted a disturbance, not from inside the station, but from his own ranks. One of the Flame Tanks had gradually reversed itself away from the encirclement without warning, breaking the formation.

"This is Scorpion-1 to Devil-1; return back to formation now!" the lead Scorpion Tank commander called.

There was no reply from the Flame Tank that behaved abnormally. It kept on reversing away from the rest of the armour column.

"This is Scorpion-1 to Devil-1; you're breaking formation, return back now!"

Still no reply from that Flame Tank, which had now started to turn around and started heading towards another direction away from the station.

"Devil-1; you are testing my patience! Get back to the formation or you'll be trialled for treason!"

The Flame Tank continued to ignore the Scorpion Tank commander's warning. It kept on moving in a straight line away from the main broadcast station... towards a cluster of Power Plants. Then it stopped in front of the cluster.

"Devil-1; what are you doing?"

Then, without warning, the Flame Tank opened fire, releasing a burst of its fiery payload through its twin devil's tongue flamethrowers, setting the cluster of Power Plants ablaze.

"Devil-1; what is the meaning of this treachery?"

The seemingly treacherous Flame Tank ignored the lead Scorpion Tank commander, and resumed incinerating the Power Plants. Then, the first Power Plant was burnt down completely under the inferno. To the remaining Nod defenders, this was the last straw.

"That does it! All units; destroy that traitor!"

All the rest of the Nod vehicles followed the order and broke formation to engage that rogue Flame Tank. The faster Raiders and Attack Bikes were the first to attack. The light Nod vehicles focused fire against the rogue Flame Tank, doing some significant damage against the beetle-shaped armoured vehicle. However, the damage was not enough as the Flame Tank ignored the light Nod vehicles and resumed burning down the Power Plants, destroying a second and a third one. Just then, 2 Stealth Tanks unleashed their volleys of rockets against the rogue Flame Tank. All the rockets hit their marks and this time, the damage was too much for the heavily damaged Flame Tank. One rocket struck at the heavily damaged hull of one of the fuel tanks, blowing up the rogue Flame Tank into a huge fiery fireball.

Although the rogue Flame Tank was quickly dealt with, the damage was already done. The fiery explosion of the Flame Tank destroyed another 2 more Power Plants, before another one got burnt to the ground eventually by the left-over flames.

* * *

'Hmm... it managed to take out 6 Power Plants, but the base defences are still running... perhaps I need to take control of another one?' Nova thought, as she surveyed the carnage from her vantage point on the top level of the main broadcast station.

Earlier, the powerful young Ghost had focused her psionic energies and directed it towards one of the Nod Perdition tanks. However, instead of blasting the Flame Tank with a direct psionic blast, she had focused the energies in the way that she psionically dominated the minds of the tank crew in the Nod Perdition tank. In other words, she had mind-controlled them.

She found that it was a little more difficult to 'convince' the tank crew of the Nod tank to follow her orders compared to soldiers of other Terran groups, but it could still be done. Nevertheless, it took the blonde Ghost some considerable effort to finally dominate that Flame Tank and controlled it to destroy the nearest Power Plant cluster. The psionically dominated Flame Tank did a wonderful work as it managed to destroy 6 Power Plants before the rest of the Nod vehicles could properly respond to its shocking 'betrayal'. Still, Nova knew that her goal was still not completed as she could tell that the base was still functioning, meaning that there was still enough power generated by the remaining Power Plants to keep the base and its automated defences to keep on running. She needed to get more Power Plants out of the way.

Just then, Nova noticed another Flame Tank, which was situated within the striking range of her psionic domination.

'Another one. Alright, I'll try it one more time, but I must be quicker this time. I don't think those Nod vehicles will be taken by surprise the second time.'

Focusing her psionic energies once more, Nova directed her willpower over the second Nod Flame Tank. A few seconds later, she could feel her will over the tank crew inside that second Flame Tank. With her psionic dominance established, the elite Ghost directed the second Flame Tank to continue the task that the previous dominated Flame Tank had started.

"Scorpion-1; Devil -3 is now moving off formation!" an Attack Bike rider reported to the lead Scorpion Tank commander.

"What? Not again? Devil-3; you have only 3 seconds to halt your advance or we'll treat you as a hostile. Respond now!"

3 seconds had passed and the Flame Tank did not show signs of compliance. To the lead Scorpion Tank commander, this type of response was a good enough reason to treat that Flame Tank as a threat to the Brotherhood of Nod.

"All units; take out Devil-3!"

The armour column of Nod Raiders, Attack Bikes, Scorpion Tanks and Stealth Tanks followed suit as they focused their fire against what seemed to be another renegade Flame Tank. The targeted Flame Tank took a lot of heavy damage from the focus fire and was belching out thick smoke from its ruptured fuel tank. However, despite the serious damages sustained, it pressed on, once again heading towards another Power Plant cluster like the previous rogue Flame Tank. Then, as it reached in front of the cluster, it unleashed its fiery load just like the previous 'renegade' Flame Tank, setting the Power Plant cluster ablaze.

"Devil-3 is trying to take out the Power Plants. Do not let it get close to them!"

The Nod vehicles tried their best to shoot at the rampaging Flame Tank as fast as they could. Finally, the lead Scorpion Tank itself managed to score a critical hit onto the ruptured fuel tank with its Tails laser cannon, blowing up the Flame Tank into an explosive fireball display.

Unfortunately for the Nod forces, the destruction of the rogue Flame Tank came too late. When the lead Scorpion Tank destroyed it, the explosion caused by the destroyed Flame Tank further damaged the superstructure of a critically damaged Power Plant, causing the entire structure to fail, blowing it into pieces.

"No..." the lead Scorpion Tank commander gasped, knowing what would transpire next to this doomed base. The end was near for them.

When the second Flame Tank that she had dominated was destroyed, Nova was initially worried that her plan to use the Nod Perdition tanks to destroy the enemy power supplying structures had failed. Thankfully, the explosion of the destroyed Perdition tank did manage to blow up a nearby heavily damaged Power Plant; and it seemed that the destruction of that single Power Plant was just what the Ghost had needed.

Within seconds after that Power Plant's destruction, Nova could feel the impact of the surrounding Nod structures losing power. She noticed Nod structures beginning to materialise around her, revealing themselves when the Disruption Towers had ceased to function. Most importantly, she could feel that all the Nod defence structures, including the dreaded obelisks, were now fully inactive.

For the Nod defenders of Base 10, this was the worst case scenario when their base had been constantly under attack by waves of Dominion Delta Squadron. Now, fully exposed, without a base commander and without base defences, the Nod personnel in Base 10 were as vulnerable as new-born babies to the continuous onslaught by the Dominion war machines.

As if it was not the worst timing possible, another huge wave of Delta Squadron forces had arrived to attack Base 10. The strike force of Marines, Marauders, Vikings, Goliaths and Siege Tanks had begun unloading their rounds against the unmoving underpowered Nod defence structures. Even the once mighty Obelisks of Light were nothing more than glorified target boards to the Dominion strike force.

"Curse those unbelievers! We have to defend the front gates!"

"The Dominion grunts are trying to get in, we must stop them!"

"We have to defend this base with our lives, in the name of Kane!"

The Nod vehicles and a few scattered number of infantries that were surrounding the main broadcast station earlier had quickly scrambled towards the front gates of Base 10, eager to repel off the Delta Squadron assault and fight them to the very last man. For Nova, this was the window of opening that she needed.

'Good! The distraction is working.'

Just then, Nova's vast psionic senses detected the approach of multiple hostile infantries approaching towards her location. She instantly knew that the Nod infantries that had stormed into the building earlier were coming closer. Fortunately, the only elevator that could lead to Level 6 had been burnt and broken down during the earlier engagement when she tried to storm into the main broadcast studio, delaying the arrival of Nod reinforcements into Level 6.

'Looks like they're coming. With my energy reserves running low, I don't think I want to engage that many hostile infantries. The outside's clear now, I'll make a getaway through there.'

The Ghost immediately smashed a window with the heavy gauss rifle and began scaling down along the building wall, stabbing and slicing through the wall with her psyblade to slow down her descent. It took the blonde less than a minute to reach back onto the ground level, which she softened her landing using her psionic powers.

As Nova touched the ground, she could hear series of gunfire and explosions originating from the front gates of Base 10, most likely due to the engagement between the Delta Squadron strike force and Nod defence forces. Feeling safe for the mean time, Nova tried to re-establish communication back to _Mjolnir_.

* * *

(Meanwhile... High Orbit above Bhekar Ro... _Mjolnir _control bridge...)

Within the control bridge of the Nova Squadron flagship _Mjolnir_, it was chaos, with the commanding personnel running around everywhere trying to fix things right.

"Ishida, is the adjutant fixed?" Colonel Akira Yamada, commander of the Nova Squadron, asked the head computer expert on board of the flagship.

Ishida, a short man in his late 20s wearing a pair of large black rimmed, thick rounded spectacles dressed in a Dominion navy officer uniform was busy tapping on the control panels. He wore a pair of oversized earphones over his ears, which housed hidden cable ports that were now connected to the ship's adjutant itself. Ishida was a Japanese descent like Colonel Yamada, though he was more easily identifiable by his ridiculous thick glasses and his black, messy, puffy hairstyle that resembled an afro. Although he looked funny to the rest of the crew, he was an irreplaceable member of _Mjolnir _command crew thanks to his expertise in computer and adjutant repair and maintenance.

"Almost done, commander. Just one last registry to fix..." the computer expert replied in his thick East Asian accent.

Akira sighed, wondering what had went wrong down there on Bhekar Ro surface with Nova to cause such a chaos.

* * *

_(Flashback... about 15 minutes ago...)_

_Everything was still going normal for the Mjolnir command crew, with Colonel Yamada still patiently waiting for Nova's update as well as the status of the gravity wells inside Bhekar Ro orbital platform. Akira had recently received an update from SCV Team N-09A that the third set of wells had recently been disabled, and was now heading towards the fourth set. Now, Akira had to patiently wait for the news of disabling the fourth set of gravity wells. At the same time, the ex-UED commander was also trying to think up of new tactics and strategies in combating the Nod defences, while wondering when would Nova complete her mission. _

_"ACCESSING SYSTEM... INITIATING OVERIDE SEQUENCE... SYSTEM ACCESSED... INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE... DOWNLOADING FILES... STANDBY..."_

_The sudden announcement by the ship's adjutant startled the commanding crew. However, they quickly regained their composure when they realised that the announcement was due to the adjutant's successful establishment of an access point to a major Nod database. This could have only implied one thing..._

_"Looks like Nova's succeeded." Colonel Yamada stated, "All technicians, keep a tab on the adjutant's status. Make sure that the download process goes on smoothly."_

_"Yes sir!"_

_Just several seconds after the download had started, the adjutant encountered an unexpected situation._

_"ALERT! ADDITIONAL FIREWALLS DETECTED IN NOD DATABASE... DOWNLOAD PROCESS ON HOLD... INITIATING OVERIDE SEQUENCE..." _

_"What happened?" Akira asked._

_"Sir, I think our adjutant had encountered some kind of anti-intrusion cyberspace defence system in the enemy database." Ishida reported, "My guess is that this must be set up by some kind of Nod artificial intelligence program, probably an equivalent of an adjutant or more."_

"_OVERIDING SYSTEM SECURITY FAILED... INITIATING NEW OVERIDE SEQUENCE... ALERT! NEW SECURITY SEQUENCES DETECTED IN NOD DATABASE..."_

_"Ishida, tell me that this won't be a problem for our adjutant." Akira asked the head computer expert in his flagship._

_"I wish to say yes, sir..." Ishida tried to assure his superior, "Adjutant 111-231 is one of the latest and most advanced adjutant models available in the Dominion. It should have enough processing power to hack through and download files from any kinds of major Terran-based networks and databases. Remember that we have used it to hack and retrieve stolen files from the Umojans before in just one attempt, who are experts in cyberspace warfare. If it can hack through Umojan systems, it should be able to hack through any other Terran systems... but for it to fail in its first attempt..."_

_"Are you saying that our adjutant can't hack into the Nod systems?"_

_"Unless the Nod people are better cyberspace experts than the Umojans, I would say we should give Adjutant 111-231 some time. It should be able to get past the enemy defences eventually."_

"_INITIATING NEW OVERIDE SEQUENCE... OVERIDING SYSTEM SECURITY FAILED!"_

_"A second failed attempt? I guess this means that those Nod people are indeed better cyberspace experts than the Umojans" Ishida concluded._

_"Ishida, this is not the time to get impressed with the enemy!" Akira reprimanded, "Can you do something to help our adjutant to hack through the enemy defences?"_

_"Let me take control of the adjutant first. I need to know the exact status of the enemy firewalls and security sequences in the enemy system before I can assess the situation."_

_Sadly, the situation for the Nova Squadron command crew was going further downhill, fast._

"_INITIATING NEW OVERIDE SEQUENCE... ALERT! FOREIGN MALICIOUS PROGRAM DETECTED... WARNING! SYSTEMS ERROR IN ADJUTANT 111-231 DETECTED..."_

_"Oh no! This is bad!" Ishida exclaimed._

_"Sir, we're losing all communication lines across the entire squadron! All our network and database files are corrupted!" another officer alerted._

_"Ishida, how does this even happen? Shouldn't our adjutant be able to handle this?" Akira asked._

_"My best guess is that the enemy AI program must have countered our adjutant's hacking attempt by sending malicious programs through the channel that our adjutant established to connect to the enemy's network." Ishida explained, "But still... for the enemy AI to be able to defend against our adjutant's hacking attempt by establishing new firewalls and introducing new security sequences in such a short time, and even send programs into our adjutant at the same time... the processing power of the enemy AI must be at least hundreds of times more powerful than Adjutant 111-231!"_

_"But that's impossible! Not even the Protoss has created an artificial program of such processing power!" the Nova Squadron commander gasped._

"_ALERT! UPLINK TO NOD DATABASE INTERRUPTED... WARNING! MALICIOUS PROGRAMS DETECTED... INITIATING SELF-DIAGNOSTICS SEQUENCE... QUARANTINE SECURITY THREATS IN PROGRESS..."_

_"Ok, I think we finally have one good news now, sir." Ishida stated, "Whatever had just happened, Adjutant 111-231 had just been disconnected from the Nod database. We wouldn't be receiving anymore malicious programs for the time being."_

_"I guess Nova must have unplugged the drive knowing what the Nod AI is doing to our adjutant." Akira remarked, "But if that is the situation, I think this means that we can't complete Emperor Mengsk's personal task of gathering data from Nod database."_

_"I find it hard to believe that Agent Nova would have failed an assignment." Agent Natasha Volstov, Colonel Yamada's personal Ghost bodyguard, exclaimed, "So commander, what do you think we should do next?"_

_Akira remained silent, as he shut his eyes in a deep thought. If the Brotherhood of Nod had such advanced artificial intelligence programs protecting their networks and databases, the results would still be the same regardless of where they tried to hack from. He would need an expert's thought about this matter._

_"Ishida, do you think is it still possible for us to hack and collect any files from the Nod systems?"_

_The head computer expert with the pair of large rounded spectacles just resumed connecting cables from the adjutant to the hidden ports inside his oversized earphones, while answering, "With the current processing power demonstrated by the enemy's AI, I don't think any of the current adjutant models available in the Dominion is capable of hacking through the Nod security, not even with the help of all the decryption experts from the entire Dominion Intelligence Section. If we want to get any intelligence from the Nod database, either we'll need about a hundred adjutants hacking consecutively with the help from all of the hacking experts in the Intelligence Section, or we'll need to get them from a human source."_

_"In other words, a prisoner I guess." Natasha concluded._

_"Indeed." Akira added, "The problem is that it seems all Nod personnel have hidden some kind of toxins in their mouths to prevent leaks of intelligence from human source. Our forces have captured some Nod soldiers since the beginning of this operation, but none of these Nod prisoners lived to tell anything. All of them consumed their hidden toxins in their mouth and died before we could even interrogate them. The toxins destroys the prisoners' brains completely, making any extraction of information through psionic means impossible."_

_"Those Nod forces are just so secretive and so hard to read, comrade." Natasha remarked, "Does that mean that we have to abort Emperor Mengsk's assignment?"_

_"For now, we have no choice but to put it to the backburner, Natasha. Our primary focus now is to extract Agent Nova from the enemy's territory before the Nod forces get their hands onto her. We also need to focus on how to defuse all the gravity wells inside the orbital platform before the enemy activates them for whatever purpose they have. Once we have all these problems settled, we'll think for another way to capture at least one prisoner and prevent him from consuming his toxins. Of course, we'll still provide fire support for the Delta Squadron to bring down all the Nod bases on this planet."_

_"Very well, comrade. We'll do as you say."_

_"Glad that you understand, Natasha. Now all units, listen up! I want all of you to try to restore all of our communication channels so that we can contact all our units again! Ishida, I want you to fix that adjutant and restore our command and control network before the enemy takes advantage of this situation!"_

_"Yes sir!" a chorus of confirmation from all of the command crew in Mjolnir echoed across the control bridge._

* * *

(End flashback...)

"Commander, it's done!" Ishida yelled, wiping off beads of sweat from his forehead with a free arm. Shortly after the Japanese computer expert's proclamation, the adjutant rebooted itself and buzzed back to life.

"ADJUTANT 111-231 ONLINE... REQUESTING USER IDENTIFICATION..."

"Adjutant, this is Colonel Akira Yamada of the Dominion Armed Forces Nova Squadron... respond."

"USER IDENTIFIED: YAMADA, AKIRA... RANK: COLONEL... USER STATUS: EX-UED CAPTAIN, CURRENT ACTIVE DOMINION OFFICER... REQUESTING INPUT COMMAND..."

"Looks like you're back fully operational, adjutant. Now listen, I want you to re-establish Nova Squadron command and control network across this planet immediately."

"COMMAND ACCEPTED... ESTABLISHING COMMAND AND CONTROL NETWORK ACROSS ALL NOVA SQUADRON UNITS AND STATIONS ON BHEKAR RO, STANDBY..."

"Hope we'll quickly regain contact with all our units. Ishida, are you sure that the adjutant is now free of foreign programs?" Akira asked.

"Yes sir. Already checked with this special set of headphones that I'm wearing right now. Any presence of foreign programs or even a tiny sequence would produce an abnormal noise which this set of headphones should be able to pick up. Right now, I don't hear anything abnormal."

A minute later, Adjutant 111-231 reported, "COMMAND AND CONTROL NETWORK ESTABLISHED FOR ALL NOVA SQUADRON UNITS AND STATIONS ON BHEKAR RO. ALERT: PRIORITY-1 TRANSMISSION RECEIVED... INCOMING TRANSMISSION..."

_"Bzzt... This is Agent Nova to Mjolnir command, please respond... can anyone hear me?"_

The command crew in the _Mjolnir _control bridge immediately turned their attention to the message when they heard the voice of their star Ghost.

"Is that Agent Nova?" Natasha asked.

"I think it is." Colonel Yamada voiced his opinion.

_"I repeat: this is Agent Nova reporting to Mjolnir command. The mission to hack and download files from the database in the main broadcast station has failed. Requesting further orders. I repeat: requesting further orders."_

"This is _Mjolnir _command to Agent Nova: we heard you. What is your situation down there?" Akira asked.

_"Bzzt... Orders received, Mjolnir command. I'm currently just outside the main entrance of the main broadcast station. The primary objective of obtaining Nod files from Nod database had failed, but I did eliminate the base commander and successfully disabled the power supply of the enemy base. A strike force from Delta Squadron 2nd Division is now currently engaging the remnants of Nod base defenders. Most of the enemy base defenders have been distracted by the Delta Squadron, but I still have about 20-40 enemy infantries pursuing me. My ammunitions and psionic reserves are running low. Requesting further instructions, over!"_

"Understood, Nova. I'm now dropping in reinforcements right into your location. They'll be arriving shortly in a few minutes. I need you to hold off the enemy forces before they arrive. Do you understand Nova? Over!"

_"I hear you, sir. I'll do everything I can to survive. Nova out!"_

"Just hang on, Nova. Good luck! _Mjolnir _out!"

As soon as Akira ended the transmission with Nova, Natasha decided to comment, "I knew that Agent Nova would not be easily taken out by those lowly terrorists, though I'm still surprised that she would fail to complete Emperor Mengsk's assignment."

"I'm equally surprised too, Natasha." Akira remarked, "Although if what Ishida said about the Nod's AI is true, then we can't truly blame her for failing. It's just that we simply don't have the right equipment for the job. We thought that one adjutant will be enough to hack through and collect the essential data files from the enemy database, not counting that the enemy may have an even more superior AI than our adjutant to guard its cyberspace network. We just need to inform this matter to the emperor and hope that we will be granted clearance to use more than one adjutants for any future Nod database hacking missions."

"I guess you're right, commander. So what's our next course of action?"

"Right now, we focus on extracting Agent Nova while assisting Delta Squadron 2nd Division to take out that base where that main broadcast station is located. After that, we'll focus on two courses of actions; first, we'll focus on defusing all the gravity wells inside the orbital platform; second, we'll need to think up of ways to shut down the enemy disruption field devices so that we can use our Nukes again. Adjutant, inform our 5th and 6th Infantry Division to get ready to drop. I want all of them to get into their Drop Pods under 3 minutes, and the Drop Pods to launched in that 3 minutes."

"COMMAND ACCEPTED... TRANSMITTING ORDERS..."

* * *

(Back in Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

Nova was now standing in front of the main entrance of the main broadcast station, panting hard as she was still recovering from the exhaustion of her long tenuous mission to infiltrate and download Nod files from the station, which unfortunately had ended as a failure. Her psionic energy reserve was running low, though it was still enough for the Crius suit to maintain its permanent cloaking. Most of her ammunitions were also running low, which the blonde knew that it would be most likely not enough to help her fend off the onslaught of 20-40 enemy infantries heading her way.

The elite Ghost knew that reinforcements would be coming in the form of Drop Pods descending down through the atmosphere and right into her current location. Drop Pod reinforcement was one of the most rapid mode of troop deployment employed by the Terran Dominion, though the size of the reinforcement would be restricted by the number of Drop Pods sent. Even though it was one of the fastest way to deploy troops down to the frontlines, a typical Drop Pod reinforcement would still need an average of at most 3 minutes for the troops to assemble into the pods, and another 2 to 3 minutes for the descent through the atmosphere. Hence Nova would expect that she would need to fend for herself for about another 5 more minutes before the reinforcements could come.

'I can sense that the first wave of Nod infantries is now just a few steps away from the main entrance. Perhaps I can slow down their overall advance by sealing up the entrance as well.'

Nova hastily took out her last remaining frag grenades, removed their safety pins and threw them right in front of the main entrance of the main broadcast station with near godly accuracy and precision. The grenades also landed just at the moment when the first of the front wave of Nod infantries came marching in towards the entrance from inside of the station. Before the most front Devout knew what happened, the grenades detonated simultaneously, annihilating the first wave of Nod infantries. Not only that, the resulting explosions destroyed the support columns that held up the main entrance, causing the main entrance to collapse into a pile of debris, sealing up the main entrance in and out of the building.

'Good! Just as I planned. Hopefully it will buy me enough time for reinforcements to arrive on time.'

Shortly after the main entrance had collapsed, Nova began to hear noises of gunfire and periodic explosive booms from the other end of the debris. The Ghost immediately knew that the next wave of Nod infantries inside the station that had survived the grenade barrage was now busy trying to clear the debris so that they could get out of the building to apprehend her.

'Hmm... those debris would not last longer than 5 minutes if those Nod infantries inside focused all their fire against them. Better start looking for some kind of cover... wait... contact!'

Nova immediately dived and rolled to one side, dodging a set of rocket barrage just in time. The blonde quickly got up back to her feet and found herself targeted by a pair of Nod Attack Bikes.

'Nod Bikes! No wonder they can spot me despite my cloaking. This is going to be a hassle.'

The elite Ghost could see that the pair of Attack Bikes had sped off after the failed sneak attack, leaving a wake of dust behind. However, Nova knew that this engagement was not yet over. Earlier briefings by Colonel Yamada had stated that those Nod Attack Bikes usually preferred hit-and-run manoeuvres, using their superior speed and agility to rush in and overwhelm their foes with a rocket barrage, speeding off after the initial barrage before turning back again and firing a next barrage of rockets. It was a simple yet deadly effective tactic, most suited for those super-speedy light vehicles.

Despite the danger of an Attack Bike hit-and-run attack, Nova remained calm as she prepared the weapons and tools necessary to take down those Attack Bikes. They might be fast and speedy, but Nova's own enhanced psionic senses would warn her of any imminent attacks, which she could be able to dodge in time with the aid of her psionically enhanced speed, agility and reflexes. Soon enough, the Attack Bike pair returned and launched a second barrage of rockets, which the blonde once again dodged them gracefully. Again, the rocket-toting bike pair hastily sped off after the second barrage failed to hit.

As soon as the Attack Bike pair sped away after the second run, Nova spotted a small squad of Devouts heading towards her way. The blonde quickly took care of them with a couple of snipes with her C-20A canister rifle, before turning her attention back to the speeding Attack Bikes, which were now turning back and speeding towards her again for a third run.

'Here they come.'

Nova quickly drew out her E-11 lockdown device, locked on and fired one lockdown towards the first Attack Bike. The targeted Attack Bike saw the attack coming but failed to react in time. It tried to swerve aside to avoid the rocket-shaped lockdown projectile but it was too late, as the projectile struck and released a bubble of electromagnetic energy enveloping around the stricken Attack Bike. The once speedy Nod vehicle came to a sudden halt. The second Attack Bike behind the first locked down Attack Bike could do little to help its partner, other than trying its best to clear away the danger by finishing off the enemy Ghost in its sight once and for all.

With one enemy Attack Bike temporarily out of action, Nova could focus against the other rocket-launching two-wheeled light vehicle. While she was not confident in handling against two Attack Bikes at the same time, one bike would be a different story. Brandishing out the looted C-1X heavy gauss rifle, Nova fired several bursts of spikes against the still speeding Attack Bike. With her psionically enhanced reflexes, the elite Ghost was able to nail most of the shots right into the red bubble window of the speeding Nod bike. The Ghost knew that the Nod bikes were fast and agile but very lightly armoured, hence it was possible to take out a Nod bike with just a gauss rifle if the shots were placed at the correct places on the bike, namely the wheels, engines and most importantly, the rider himself behind the bubble window.

As the second Attack Bike came under fire, it desperately launched a next barrage of rocket fire upon the Ghost. With fewer rockets in this third barrage, the alert elite Dominion agent found it even easier to dodge the fewer amount of rockets. Seeing its third rocket barrage had missed its target again, the second Attack Bike tried to turn and speed off again for a fourth run.

Unfortunately for that Attack Bike rider, Nova was not going to give it a fourth chance. As soon as she got back onto her feet after successfully dodging the third rocket barrage, the Ghost quickly resumed fire upon the fleeing Attack Bike with her heavy gauss rifle. Once again, the near godly accuracy of the blonde with her firearms allowed her to score hits onto the speeding bike's critical points. This time, Nova managed to place several critical hits onto the bike's rear tyre, causing that tyre to burst. The result was the said Attack Bike instantly losing control of its own speed due to the sudden loss of its rear tyre, causing it to spin out of control before flipping smashing against the ground and splintering into many parts and pieces. Nova could even witness the unfortunate rider being flung out of his seat and smashed through the bubble window by inertia, tumbling along the ground over a hundred metres before coming to a halt, lying on the ground unmoving.

'One down, one to go.'

With the second Attack Bike permanently out of action, Nova approached the first Attack Bike which she had placed it on lockdown earlier. The lockdown effect was still there, with the Nod light vehicle being at an extremely vulnerable position. The lightly armoured Nod vehicle's best defence was its own speed and agility. With those removed, an Attack Bike was as vulnerable as a single Zergling surrounded by a mob of Zealots.

Through the red bubble window of the locked down Attack Bike, Nova could see the rider desperately trying to restart his vehicle. The Ghost knew that his efforts would be in vain as long as the lockdown was still in effect, and he was going to die soon anyway. With absolute calmness, Nova opened fire with her heavy gauss rifle right into the stricken Nod bike window. The concentrated heavy gauss rifle fire easily shredded through the bubble window and ripped the poor rider inside apart. The shots also somehow ruptured the fuel tank of the bike and blew the vehicle up, leaving scattered burning heaps of scrap metal and broken tyres.

However, even after the pair of Attack Bikes had been taken care of, Nova had no time to pause. Shortly just after she eliminated the Attack Bikes, Nova heard a loud explosive rumble coming from the main broadcast station. The beautiful blonde instantly knew that the Nod infantries inside the station had finally blasted their way through the debris and were coming to get her. When the Ghost looked back at the main entrance, her thoughts were confirmed.

Nova quickly scanned around her surroundings and managed to find a large metal fragment which the Ghost believed to be once part of the majestic Battlecruiser _Manticore _before it met its end at the high-powered lasers of the Nod obelisk defences. Before the Nod infantries from inside the main broadcast station could open fire, Nova had hastily taken cover with the Battlecruiser fragment standing in between her and the enemies.

As soon as the first wave of Nod infantries stepped out of the station, they began to spray their shots all across the area, well aware that their hunted was cloaked and could be hiding around here somewhere. Some of the stray shots almost hit Nova, almost if not because of the blocking neosteel debris that stood in between the Ghost and the Nod infantry mob.

After several seconds of spray-shooting, the Nod infantry mob ceased their fire. The leader of the mob, a High Confessor signalled the others to spread around the area and search for their hidden foe.

"Keep in tight formations inside your own squad, brothers. Remember to keep a sharp lookout for any disturbance. The enemy is cloaked, so shoot anything if you see or hear any movements." the High Confessor ordered.

The mob began to spread out with different squads heading towards different directions. The infantries in each squad stuck close to one another. For Nova, this was going to be a problem. The current weather outside was hot and humid, with rising hot air currents easily breaking her silhouette if she moved, potentially revealing her position to any sharp-eyed hostiles even if her cloaking was on. If she remained still, the enemies would not find her easily. However, if an enemy managed to stumble upon her hiding spot at close proximity, there would be a very high chance that she would be spotted. She could hide, but it would be a matter of time before a squad somehow stumbled upon her location.

Nova looked at the time; about 3 minutes had passed since her last transmission with Colonel Yamada. She estimated that Drop Pods should be ejected out of _Mjolnir _by now and were on their way to her current location. However, it would still take a few more minutes before they could touch down and release the reinforcements. As the blonde was still waiting for the reinforcements, she suddenly noticed that a few Nod squads were slowly approaching towards her hiding spot. If she did nothing, they might spot her.

'Looks like it's time for a little distraction...'

Drawing out her last hallucinogenic grenade, Nova tossed the biochemical weapon towards the nearest elite squad: a Confessor cabal squad led by a single Black Hand trooper. Before the Nod mob could react to the tossed grenade in time, the hallucinogenic grenade released its yellowish-green gaseous load right in the middle of the targeted Confessor cabal squad. As a result, 6 Confessors and a single Black Hand went 'insane', shooting at their own allies in a frantic manner.

"Curses! Brother Bale's cabal got drugged. Put them down before they kill us all!" the lead High Confessor commanded, prompting the rest of the mob to fire upon the drugged cabal.

As the Nod infantries were busy shooting one another, Nova decided to further thin down the numbers by shooting at the nearest Nod infantries with her heavy gauss rifle while remaining cloaked, using the shootout as a form of distraction.

The shootout was brief and short, as the drugged Confessor cabal stood no chance against the focus fire of the rest of the Nod mob. Besides the drugged Confessor cabal, a few Devouts and Confessors were also fallen during the shootout. Unknown to most of the mob, a third of the fallen Nod soldiers were actually killed by Nova from behind her cover.

Unfortunately for Nova, her luck was beginning to run out. While most of the mob did not notice that some of their comrades were killed by their hidden foe, the sharp-eyed lead High Confessor did notice a stray muzzle flash from behind a Battlecruiser neosteel debris chunk.

"There! Behind that Battlecruiser fragment! All units, concentrate your fire onto that debris!"

"Shit!" Nova cursed as she frantically took cover and crouched behind the Battlecruiser fragment, avoiding the sudden hail of gunfire by the Nod mob. With no more grenades left, little energy reserves left in her reactor and her ammunitions running low, Nova was out of options. She could try to shoot back, but she simply did not have enough ammunitions to take out the entire mob. A powerful psionic blast might clear the crowd, but that would blast away everything around her, including the neosteel fragment that was now protecting her. A psi blast would leave her extremely exhausted and vulnerable to any follow-up attacks. It seemed that this might be her last stand.

'I guess I'll just shoot them down with all of my remaining ammunitions, then cut down the rest with my psyblade. Hope my cloaking can prevent them from making accurate shots.'

With hardened determination, Nova hoisted up her C-20A canister rifle and quickly made several accurate sniper shots against some of the elite Nod infantries among the mob, including the lead High Confessor. The elite Ghost had used up all her canister rifle ammunitions this way, but at least each and every of those sniper shots had made kills, which included that lead High Confessor.

With the sudden death of the lead High Confessor, the mob initially went frantic and disorganised. This brief moment of chaos within the Nod ranks gave Nova the opportunity to switch her weapon from the C-20A canister rifle to the C-1X heavy gauss rifle. The elite Ghost immediately reloaded the heavy gauss rifle and began shooting at the mob with quick bursts, gunning down several more Nod infantries.

Despite the deaths of so many comrades under the hands of the blonde Ghost, the Nod mob quickly got over their initial shock from the loss of the lead High Confessor and began to reorganise and retaliate, laying suppressive fire against the lone Dominion agent. Under the hail of spikes, Nova was forced to hide behind cover of the neosteel debris. Just then, a rocket fired off from an Ascended slammed against the debris, almost blasting the Ghost off from her spot. Fortunately the neosteel fragment still stood, albeit with some significant damage.

Although Nova had been suppressed by Nod firepower and was unable to move around freely, her highly enhanced psionic senses were able to pinpoint the rough locations of all her foes within a certain range. So far, she sensed bad news; the mob was about to surround her. Soon, there was nowhere to hide from her enemies, not even the Battlecruiser fragment could protect her from attacks from all directions.

'Damn it! This is not how I want it to end! Where's the goddamned reinforcements?'

Fortunately, the blonde's prayer was about to be answered.

Signs of hope for the Dominion agent first showed when some of the Nod mob stopped shooting and stared straight up into the sky. This was followed by audible roars across the sky that got louder after each second, as if some sturdy objects were descending through the atmosphere and heading towards the surface. Then, the Devouts and the Ascended in the mob began to aim their weapons skywards and shoot wildly, as if seeing threats from up above.

Nova looked up into the sky and was instantly relieved of what she had seen; reinforcements had finally arrived. The tell-tale signs of dozens of rounded cylinders with streaks of fire trailing behind, heading towards her direction were truly a relieving sign that the tables were about to be turned.

'Finally! Now it's time to hit back!'

About more than two dozen Dominion Drop Pods approached from the sky to the surface on Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10, in the area around the main broadcast station where the Dominion agent Nova Terra had dug in. As the Drop Pods made their descent, they quickly encountered resistance from the Nod soldiers around the main broadcast station, who had not hesitated to point their weapons skywards and shoot at them, intending to destroy them and the Dominion crew they held.

During the descent, several Drop Pods were violently blasted into chunks of burning neosteel fragments by Dragon rockets launched by Nod Ascended. The rest though, despite the hail of fire by anti-air spikes, did get close enough to the surface to deploy their flaps to slow down their descent, touching down onto the ground in one piece.

Shortly after the Drop Pods touched down, the hatches were pushed open as Dominion troops of Nova Squadron 5th and 6th Infantry Division marched out and fired their weapons at the opposing Nod troops. About two dozen Marines, Marauders, Medics and Hellions rushed out from their pods into the scene to engage the mob of Nod Militants, Rocket Militants, Devouts, Ascended, Shadows, Confessors and High Confessors.

With confidence boosted by the timely arrival of Dominion reinforcements, Nova resumed her fierce retaliation against the Nod infantry mob, gunning down even more Nod soldiers with her heavy gauss rifle. However, the Ghost's retaliation did not last long when she had used up her last Nod heavy gauss rifle rounds.

Another Dominion Drop Pod landed just right beside Nova herself. The hatched opened up to reveal another Ghost agent stepping out with his C-10 canister rifle. The Ghost sniped and killed a Black Hand trooper that was getting too close to Nova's cover with his canister rifle, before turning to the blonde sitting against the neosteel debris.

"Somebody call for an exterminator?"

Nova stared blankly at the new arrival, whose face was fully masked with the Ghost spec ops goggles and rebreather, before de-cloaking herself in front of the Ghost, revealing a smirk in her face.

"You're late, Agent Fisher. So are all the rest of you."

"We came down as soon as Commander Yamada received your distress call, Agent Nova. In fact, you should praise our luck for making through towards the surface with so many Nod anti-air around." Fisher retorted.

"Whatever. So, any specific instructions from the commander?" Nova asked.

"Yes..." Fisher replied, tossing several C-20A canister rifle magazines and a health and energy recovery serum syringe to the blonde super-soldier, "You are to assist us in taking down this entire base and capturing this Nod broadcast station. This attack will be coordinated with Delta Squadron 2nd Division. The Delta guys will be hammering the Nod armoured forces at the front, while we'll be taking out their men from the inside. Your objective is simple: eliminate all Nod units inside this base."

"Simple enough." Nova accepted as she reloaded her C-20A canister rifle with a fresh magazine after administering herself with the health and energy recovery serum syringe, "Consider it done."

Refreshed from her previous ordeal, Nova joined Fisher and the rest of the Nova Squadron reinforcements to take out the enemy Nod presences in front of them.

* * *

(Meanwhile... Nod Bhekar Ro Outpost no. 20... Operations Centre Level 2...)

The elevator door of the Operations Centre Level 2 got blasted off as Gabriel Tosh stepped out, with the Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun in his hands. A Black Hand charged forward, intending to stop the intruder from advancing, only to be gunned down by a blast of ionised Tiberium beam, joining the rest of his comrades stationed at the lower levels in this same building.

"This is really fun, mon." the Spectre spoke in delight, "I think I can smell the scent of despair close by."

Tosh was now finding himself in a straight narrow corridor leading towards the main operations command chamber. This was the last room in this building that the Spectre pirate had not searched through yet, so the Confederate adjutant must be inside that room. Indeed, the beeping noise in the mercenary's scanner was getting louder and louder as Tosh walked closer towards the room.

Before stepping into the last chamber, Tosh stopped to focus his mind so as to detect how many presences were there inside that room with his 'voodoo senses'. He picked up only three, so this should be an easy sweep-in for the Spectre.

Firing the Tiberium combi-gun in beam mode, Tosh blasted his way through the gate before stepping into the operations command chamber. As soon as the psionic mercenary stepped in, 2 High Confessors and Agent Archie himself, adorned in a helmetless Confessor powered combat suit and armed with a C-1X heavy gauss rifle, fired upon the shadowy intruder. However, Tosh was prepared for their assaults. The enemy ionised Tiberium beams and heavy gauss rifle rounds simply pounded harmlessly against the psionic shield that Tosh set up, rendering their combined assault fruitless.

After the enemies' initial attacks, Tosh immediately counterattacked by first focusing his powers and mind blasted the first High Confessor, while firing a blast of ionised Tiberium beam right into the skull of the second one. Only Archie was left.

Shortly after disposing of both High Confessors, Tosh briefly scanned across the chamber and voila; he found an old-looking Confederate adjutant sitting on top of a command interface just right beside Archie.

"Hey you there!" Tosh called out to Archie, "You're now all alone in this building. No more backup. No more help. You know what I am, and you know that you're outmatched. Why don't you just shoot yourself in the head and let me take that adjutant back to its rightful owner."

"You want me to give up, you lowly mercenary scum?" Archie shouted in rage, "The great prophet Kane and the glorious Commander had given me this sacred task of protecting this important adjutant from heathens' like you! The words recorded in this adjutant is the key to dethrone the tyrant of this sector, and the Brotherhood needs it! I won't let you strip away this glorious destiny from us!"

"I don't care what your bossman want you to do. I just want what's inside that adjutant. Give up quietly and I'll grant you a quick, painless release from your miserable life."

"You've underestimated us, heathen..." Archie stated as he pushed a set of buttons on the command interface console where the adjutant was sitting on.

Tosh picked up Archie's thoughts as he typed in a set of commands into the console and quickly realised what the Nod agent was planning to do. The Spectre immediately fired a beam towards Archie, trying to stop the Nod fanatic from finishing the command. Sadly, he was just a little too late.

Before the ionised Tiberium beam could melt the Nod agent, Archie tapped the last key in the strings of command into the console. In an instant, a forcefield was erected around the Nod agent as well as the Confederate adjutant and the command interface console. The green ionised beam headed straight towards the lone Nod figure, but was intercepted by the timely erected forcefield.

"You are a cunning one, Noddie." Tosh remarked, raising an eyebrow with intrigue of his final foe's latest act of defiance.

"That's not all, unbeliever. This room shall be your final resting place!" Archie sneered from inside the safety within the forcefield, and tapped in another set of commands into the console.

Just then, several gas canisters popped out from beneath the floor and began gassing the room with some kind of greenish vapour.

"Oh brother, now you're trying to gas the room, huh? Well that wouldn't be enough to keep me down." Tosh stated as he channelled his psionic energies and placed a fresh psionic shield around himself, shielding himself from the noxious-looking gases. On the other hand, Archie and the adjutant was already protected from the gases by the forcefield.

"A shield will only delay the inevitable, heathen." Archie taunted, "Why not let us speed this up so that I can witness your slow, painful death!"

The Nod agent tapped in another set of command inputs into the console and shortly after that, 4 pop-up Shredder Turrets emerged from beneath the floor.

'Okay... now I have to admit that this is going to be a little tougher than I thought.' Tosh thought as he frantically dashed away from his original position to avoid the volley of fragmentation slugs fired off from the Shredder Turrets. The Spectre knew that his psionic shield could not last long inside a room filled with toxic gases, and added with fragmentation slugs, he would soon be a dead man if he kept on standing on the same spot.

It had been a long time since Tosh had found himself in such a precarious state. Usually, he was the one who was in control of the situation, not the other way round. Right now, Tosh was really tempted to just abort his task, leave the adjutant behind and get out of here. He was a pirate, a mercenary, whose loyalty was only to himself. To hell with his deal with the Raynor's Raiders, he could find another way to bring back his Spectre army. His survival was now the top priority.

"Why don't you just give up now and accept your inevitable fate, heathen?" Archie taunted again, enjoying the sight of Tosh's struggle, "You should know by now that not even a Ghost like you are a match to the divine might of the Brotherhood of Nod! Your fanciful powers can't save you now! You're always beneath us! You're nothing!"

Something inside Tosh had snapped when the psionic mercenary heard the Nod agent's taunts. For some reason, Tosh no longer wanted to give up his task. Instead he found a drive to keep on fighting despite the odds stacked against his favour. Perhaps his sense of pride as a Spectre had override his survival instinct. He did not feel like leaving what supposed to be a simple task undone and a gloating weakling to witness this shameful failure. No, he could not leave this place yet. It would leave a bad mark in his resume as a mercenary, as a Spectre. Most importantly, he had a bone to pick with that cocky little Noddie.

"So you think that I'm underestimating you lots, don't you Noddie? Well let me tell you what I think; I think YOU are underestimating ME!"

Tosh bravely dashed towards the Shredder Turrets, focusing his psionic energies onto his psionic shield to strengthen it. The Shredder Turrets fired volleys of fragmentation slugs at the Spectre, only for the shadowy mercenary to either dodge at the last second or shrug them off with his strengthened shield. He fired one blast of ionised Tiberium beam towards one turret which was furthest away from him, blasting it off into smithereens with the beam reflecting to the other two closest turrets, damaging them but not fully taking them out yet. Shortly after destroying the first turret, Tosh had dashed and reached towards the closest turret, which he slammed a set C4 demolition charge onto it before dashing off towards the next closest turret. The Spectre continued to dash across the room non-stop, dodging the fragmentation slugs as best as he could, minimising the damage dealt onto his psionic shield. He later reached the second closest turret, slamming another set C4 charge onto the turret. Shortly after that, he grabbed out his last 2 fragmentation grenades, removing their safety pins and tossed them towards the last turret, which was the most heavily damaged due to earlier ionised beam that first prism from the first turret to it. In less than 3 seconds after the frag grenades landed next to the last Shredder Turret, 3 simultaneous explosions took place, signalling the destruction of all the Shredder Turrets. The whole process took less than 10 seconds.

"Looks like your little trap didn't work as well as you think, man," it was Tosh's turn to taunt his opponent, "and you're next, brotha."

Archie was beginning to have cold sweat. He had counted on the gases and pop-up turrets inside this room to kill the intruder so that the Confederate adjutant could be kept safe, yet not only were the turrets destroyed, the intruder was still alive. Only the gas canisters were left, but they could be easily taken out too and once those gas canisters were gone, Archie would have left out of options to kill the Spectre gloating in front of him. The only line of defence left would be the forcefield.

"Well, congratulations for making this far, unbeliever." Archie mocked, trying to put up a brave front despite his worry deep within his heart, "But you're still going to die under the cleansing by the great Tiberium gas flooding this room once your shield is down. You'll still die and the adjutant will still be safe from the corrupted ones like you!"

"Oh really? I don't think so, Noddie, because I already know how to get you!" Tosh claimed. As soon as he finished his words, Tosh aimed up his Tiberium combi-gun up high and shot a beam towards a specific spot of the ceiling. Less than a second later, the Spectre flicked out his balisong and tossed the bladed weapon straight towards Archie.

The Nod agent did not see it coming. A second ago, Archie was still confident that the enemy intruder would be dead on the floor just a short moment later and he himself would walk out alive as a hero with the adjutant kept safe and intact. A second later, Archie found himself choking in his own blood. He peered his eyes down and was shocked to find the balisong penetrated deep into this throat, with blood spurting out profusely like a crimson fountain. It was by this time that Archie realised to his shock that the forcefield was down.

"W... whaaat... h... ho... howww?" the dying Nod agent gurgled.

"Oh it's pretty simple." Tosh explained as he stepped closer towards both his victim and his prize. "All forcefield generator need a power source to work. No power, no forcefield; it's just that simple. Your forcefield generator design may be different from the usual ones that I know, but they all work under the same principle. You think that my voodoo powers can only pick up thoughts? Guess again, Noddie! It's true that I can pick up what you're thinking, but I can also feel any slight change in energy flow around me. When you activated that forcefield, I could sense where the power was flowing from, where the forcefield getting its power from. The spot that I just shot, it wasn't a random shot. I shot there to cut its power flow, so that your little forcefield have no more juice to run on. As for the rest, I think you should have figured out by now."

Archie did not respond immediately to Tosh's explanation, not when he was desperately trying to stop the continuous flow of blood spurting out from the fatal neck wound. His weapon dropped onto the floor, as both of his hands were preoccupied trying to stop the blood flow on the neck. The Nod agent was finding it more difficult to breath. Blood flooding in his throat made it impossible for him to speak. His legs were losing strength, as the agent was now down to his knees.

"You look real hurt, Noddie." Tosh spoke to his dying foe in a casual tone as he walked casually towards his victim. Moments later, the Spectre was finally standing tall right in front of the kneeling Nod agent.

Despite knowing his inevitable death, Archie lifted his heady and glared at the white-eyed mercenary with full of anger and defiance. The Nod agent released and weakly extended one of his arm to try to grab his dropped C-1X heavy gauss rifle, only for the Spectre to kick it aside, away from his grabbing range.

"Defiant till the very end... ah... I can see the rage in your eyes... I like it. I guess you do deserve for a quick death as a reward, but first..."

Without warning, Tosh grabbed Archie's long blonde hair and lifted him up at eye level, staring right into the Nod agent's green eyes. The Spectre channelled and focused his psionic energies right into the Nod agent's mind, peering through his thoughts and memories.

"Now let's see how much do you know? Hmm... I see... so that's what your boss' been planning to do to the Dominion boys on this rock. I can't believe that you Noddies still have so many tricks under your sleeves. I guess this means that me and my brothers will have to get out of this rock immediately after we're done. Oh, what's this... so that's how you Noddies know about the adjutant... interesting... Raynor must know about this."

Satisfied with what he had learnt, Tosh released his grip on Archie, whose eyes had turned blank due to the mental interrogation. Then, without warning, Tosh drew the still-stuck balisong out of Archie's neck swiftly and forcefully, spurting out even more blood.

"Thanks for your information, man. Now it's time for your reward..."

Tosh focused and channelled more of his psionic energies into Archie's mind again. This time, however, he channeled so much energy into Archie's mind at once that the Nod agent's brain burst inside the agent's skull. As promised, Archie's death was swift.

Although all enemy forces were dead in this building, Tosh knew that the danger was yet from over. He was still standing inside a room filled with a greenish toxic gas, which he was only protected from the effects by his psionic shield. The gas itself was slowly draining off the power of his psionic shield, hence Tosh knew that he must leave this room immediately or else something horrible would happen to him. Who knew what the green gas could do him. Even if he was to destroy all the gas canisters in this room, the gases that were already expelled would still linger in this room. Getting out was his first priority.

"Mustn't forget this baby."

Before leaving the room, Tosh grabbed the Confederate Adjutant 23-46 and yanked it out of its wires and cable bindings to the command interface console with all of his might. The adjutant was a very heavy piece of equipment and Tosh knew that he could not drag the robot all the way to his 'new ride' parked at the building's basement level, but at least he could drag it out of this gassed room so that he could begin extracting data out from the adjutant using the memory drive that Raynor had provided.

"Alright... now time to get out of this place..."

* * *

(About a minute later... Nod Bhekar Ro Outpost no. 20... Operations Centre elevator reaching basement level...)

Tosh was sitting on the elevator floor, resting and recovering from the exhaustion of maintaining his psionic shield inside a room flooded with toxic gases while dragging an old heavy piece of adjutant out of the said room and into the elevator. After reaching the elevator, the Spectre inserted the memory drive into the adjutant and began extracting every piece of information from inside that adjutant. Once this was done, that old Confederate adjutant would not be needed anymore and Tosh could prepare to head back to the raiders with the information that they needed, which they all hoped might contain some sensitive information that they could use against Mengsk and his corrupted Dominion regime.

As the elevator stopped at basement level, Tosh stood up and proceeded to drag the adjutant out as well. Just then, a signal light on the memory drive flashed from orange to green, signifying that data transfer from the adjutant to the drive was complete.

"So it's done. This means it's time to say bye-bye, adjutant."

With the data transfer complete, Tosh unplugged the memory drive from the Adjutant 23-46 and left the old Confederate robot behind, heading towards the Reckoner which Tosh used to smash his way into the base.

A minute later, the Spectre reached the entry site where the Reckoner remained parked over there. After ensuring that there were no more foes remaining around the area, Tosh quickly hopped back into the driver seat of the Reckoner and closed up the red bubble window over the driver seat. The gun-for-hire then revved up the Nod vehicle's Tiberium core engine and reversed the vehicle back through the hole in the wall where the vehicle smashed through earlier during entry.

As Tosh was preparing to leave, the Spectre leader decided it was time to make an important call back to the raiders.

"Yo, brotha! Tosh here, do you copy?"

_"Bzz... bzz... Tosh... you there?"_

"That's right, brotha, it's me. I got all the decrypted data kept inside that old adjutant of yours. That baby's too heavy, so I just took the important parts inside that machine and left it behind in the Noddie outpost. Nevertheless, I got them all in the memory drive you'd given to me."

_"Bzz... Good work, Tosh... now give me the coordinates for the rendezvous point... we'll send a Dropship to pick you up..."_

"Will do... here's the coordinates... oh and when your jockeys see this set of codes coming out from a Nod vehicle, don't shoot it... cos' that'll be me."

_"Bzz... Understood... Tosh... we'll meet you at the rendezvous point... Hyperion out!"_

* * *

(Meanwhile... back in Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10...)

Base 10 was in ruins. Nod structures were all either burnt to the ground or reduced to charred pieces of debris. Dead bodies of both Nod and Dominion infantries littered across the field, joined by ruined burning wreckages of Nod and Dominion vehicles. The main broadcast station had suffered some serious damage on its external wall, and its interior was also in a huge mess. Alas, the station, where Kane's infamous sudden broadcast that hacked into the UNN network on Korhal originated from, was finally seized by the Dominion task force.

Nova and Fisher, accompanied by a handful of surviving infantries of Nova Squadron 5th and 6th Division, patrolled and searched across the ruined Nod base, ensuring that there were no more enemies hiding in the area. The psionic senses of both Ghost agents in the group had not sensed anymore hostiles present in the area, but they still needed to be sure.

As the group of Nova Squadron soldiers trekked across the derelict base, Nova sensed something in front of them, which was hidden behind the thick smoke. She immediately signaled the squad to halt their march, which the squad immediately did so. From within the thick smokescreen, the squad began to see shadows of something approaching towards them, followed by a series of heavy footsteps.

One of the Nova Squadron Marine had hoisted up his C-14 gauss rifle and was about to shoot at the approaching figure, but Nova stopped him.

"Hold your fire, private! It's not a hostile."

The private reluctantly obeyed to the order, allowing the unknown figure to close in even further towards the squad. Soon, the figure revealed itself out of the smokescreen: a Marauder, bearing the emblem of Delta Squadron 2nd Division.

The Marauder, with both of his arms lifted in alert for a sneak attack, glanced at each and every member of the Nova Squadron soldiers in front of him. After a few seconds, the Marauder confirmed them as friendlies and lowered his weapons.

"You Nova geeks really sure took a damn long time to clean up the inside." the Dominion heavy infantry scoffed, "I thought you Ghost freaks are professionals? Do you have any idea how many of our guys have lost their lives at the front, waiting for you to finish your whatever covert stuffs in the inside?"

"Hmph! If isn't thanks to Agent Nova here for shutting down the power grids in this base, you Delta simpletons wouldn't even be able to get in at all." Fisher retorted, "Do you have any idea how much risk we take to drop in right into the middle of this base, right into the heart of the enemy territory? You Delta brutes only know how to smash your way through all your obstacles through brute force, and look at how well it goes."

"At least we do smash through their defences. This shows that we don't need any of your cheap tricks to cheat your way through victories."

"The only reason why you simpletons can smash through this Nod defences is because we have already softened them up from the inside out! Our cheap tricks are what that help you brutes to even win this skirmish at the first place! All you Delta brutes know is to charge head on without a plan like some pea-brained animal."

"Pea-brained animal? I dare you to say that again, freak!" the Marauder threatened, lifting his right arm with the Quad K12 Punisher grenade launcher loaded and ready to fire.

"Call me a freak and I'll put a canister round through your tiny head the next second!" Fisher countered, hoisting up his C-10 and had its laser sighting pointed right at the Marauder's head. At the same time, the other Marines and Marauders in the Nova Squadron had also lifted up their weapons and ready to shoot at the rude Delta Squadron Marauder. Tension was high and it seemed that a shootout was about to occur.

"Alright, that's enough, all of you!" Nova shouted, releasing a huge burst of psionic pressure around the area. The sudden pressure caused all individuals in the standoff to freeze, even including Fisher, another Ghost. "You boys are all a bunch of idiots! It doesn't matter whose methods contribute more to take out this Nod base; it all matters is that this base has to be taken out one way or another eventually. I don't care how it is done; I only care that it must be done eventually within the allocated time period. Agent Fisher, you should know very well that it is prohibited for a Ghost agent of the Dominion to terminate another Dominion military personnel unless ordered by a direct superior. If you shot that guy, you would be court-martialed and terminated when we got back to _Mjolnir_."

"Understood..." Fisher agreed reluctantly, lowering his canister rifle.

"And you there..." Nova turned to the Delta Squadron Marauder, glancing at the printed name tag and rank of the Dominion heavy infantry, "Sergeant Scott... next time when you want to threaten my squadron again, make sure you're in a fight when you can have a chance of winning. You're severely outnumbered here; do you think you can take all of us on and leave the place alive?"

The Marauder, now identified as Scott, remained silent. However, Nova's telepathic senses could tell through the Marauder's 5-4 armoured suit helmet that Scott was seething in the inside, but knowing that the blonde in front of him was absolutely right. The hot-headed Delta Squadron Marauder sergeant almost jumped the gun, despite the clear fact that Fisher had the support of Nova, a very powerful Ghost on her own, and about a dozen other Marines and Marauders with Medic support. It was utterly foolish and suicidal for him to try to take them on all by himself.

"Hmph... I guess I'll let it slide for now." Scott finally relented, lowering down his weapon.

"You've made a smart choice, sergeant." Nova remarked, "So... where are the rest of your team?"

"Still patrolling around the perimeters, checking that all Nod scum have been fully dealt with in this area." Scott replied, "My team had joined up an earlier strike team to knock down the perimeter defences of this Nod base, who had called for reinforcements when they faced fierce resistance from Nod combat vehicles even though the Nod perimeter defences were down. We lost a lot of good soldiers, but we did persevere and break through eventually. It's a good thing that those Nod tanks are as good as glass cannons; they only know how to unleash the punishment, but can't take much themselves. I stumbled upon you guys when I thought I heard some footsteps, lucky that it was you lots and not some Nod survivors."

"I can agree with you on that. So who's in charge in your team?" Nova asked.

"That'll be Lieutenant Craig Anderson. He's inside the lead Siege Tank of this strike force. I'll contact him that you lots are here so my team will know about this and won't mistakenly shoot you guys." Scott replied.

"Well... thanks for that, Sergeant Scott. Just to let you know, we've checked the inside and we've confirmed that this area is free of Nod too."

"Understood, I'll let Lieutenant Anderson know about this too. Anyway, I think I've spent too much time hanging around with you geeks, I've got to get back and rejoin my team. See you around, geeks!" Scott said as he turned around and walked away.

About half a minute after Scott had walked away, one of the Nova Squadron Marine private decided to voice out his opinion, "What a douche bag! He never even thanked us in the end!" The others all nodded, totally agreeing with the private's opinion.

"That's not important, private. We conducted this battle not to make others thank us for heroic acts, but to do service for the Dominion and its emperor. Remember that, everyone." Nova reminded, "Now since the search around this area is complete and we've confirmed that all hostiles in this area have been eliminated, I'll be contacting back to _Mjolnir_ command for further orders. I need you boys to cover me, in case if there's any ambush, regardless from Nod or from some sore losers among the Delta boys."

"Got it, ma'am!"

"Copy that..."

"Good!" Nova began to tap to her communicator in her headphone, "This is Agent Nova to _Mjolnir _command; primary objective base destroyed, all Nod units eliminated, primary objective secured, mission accomplished, requesting new orders sir."

_"Excellent work, Agent Nova! I'll be sending troops down to secure and search through the main broadcast station compound. As for now, I have no further assignments available for you yet. You are given permission to return back to Mjolnir and take a good rest before your next deployment. You've done well, agent, you deserve a good rest. I'm sending a Dropship to pick you and your men up now. Mjolnir out!"_

"Affirmative! Thank you, commander! We'll be awaiting for the pickup, Nova out!"

As Nova ended the transmission, Fisher asked, "So... no further assignments until later notice, right?"

"Indeed, Agent Fisher." the blonde replied.

"Err... so does that mean we can finally get a chance to take a rest?" a Marine sergeant asked.

"Yes, sergeant. Colonel Yamada's sending a Dropship down to pick us up back to _Mjolnir_. For now, our duty's over. Good job, boys." Nova replied.

"Hell... it's about time!" another Marine corporal joked.

Nova remained silent with a neutral expression while watching the other Marines and Marauders in the same squad fist-bumping and shoulder-patting to congratulate one another for a job well-done. In her mind, she was also as equally glad and relieved as her squadron mates in finally finishing this skirmish against the Brotherhood of Nod. She really had one hell of a day fighting and eliminating more than a hundred Nod units, infiltrating a major installation, meeting up with a wanted convict inside the same installation and ending up teaming together with the said convict to combat against a psionic cybernetic super-soldier, ending up failing Emperor's Mengsk's given assignment due to unexpected interference by an advanced Nod artificial intelligence, and finally, sabotaging the base infrastructure from the inside out and surviving until reinforcements came in. This was truly one of the hardest assignment she had received, other than the apprehension of Gabriel Tosh and his Spectres associates.

'I guess I really need to take a short vacation after this operation...'

* * *

(Somewhere in Bhekar Ro... Tosh rendezvous point...)

A Spec Ops Dropship had arrived the rendezvous point where it should have encountered and picked up the Spectre Gabriel Tosh and his acquired information and records taken from the Confederate Adjutant 23-46. The Raynor's Raiders stealthy transport vessel hovered around the barren area, searching for any signs of the psionic mercenary. Suddenly, its scanners picked up movements.

"Sir, we've detected seismic activity in the vicinity! It might be a Nod ambush!" the Dropship pilot reported back to the _Hyperion _command bridge.

_"Wait, that might be Tosh. He said that he's now using a Nod vehicle as a getaway. Check your transmission line, is he sending a set of codes?" _Jim Raynor responded from the other end of the channel.

"Hold on sir... yeah, we're receiving the exact same set of codes transmitted from that whatever thing coming from underground. I think it's Tosh alright... wait... I think he's coming out now..."

Soon enough, a black and red cylindrical half-track vehicle with a drill tips at the front and three red bubble windows at the cockpit region burst out from beneath the ground. The Dropship piloting crew recognised that particular Nod vehicle to be one of the Nod burrowing vehicles that function like an armoured personnel carrier and mobile bunker. Although they knew what the vehicle was, they were still awed to see such a bizarre war machine in action.

_"Bzz... Hey brothas... this is Tosh here... I'm back with the things you need... and look... I've got some presents for ya!" _Tosh's voice was heard from the transmission originating from that lone Nod subterranean vehicle, confirming that the Spectre was indeed inside that Nod vehicle and it was not a hostile.

_"Well I'll be..." _Raynor's voice was heard through the transmission from the _Hyperion's _control bridge. The outlaw leader had witnessed the whole scene through transmitted images sent by the Spec Ops Dropship. _"That's one hell of a bonus you've got! How the heck do you get it?"_

_"Oh it's nothing too hard..." _Tosh replied, _"Just run into a bunch of Noddies when I first got down here... figuring it out that they won't need this baby when they're dead... so I killed them and took it for a ride. It's really been a good help for me to get around the Noddies and Dominion undetected... so I can get the thing that you people want so much."_

_"Geez... thanks Tosh! I guess Swann is going to need more coffee for the next couple of days."_

_"Make that weeks, man! If you think this baby is the only treasure I've found, you'll be eager to see what else I've recovered from the Noddies."_

_"Alright then, we'll talk later when we get you back to the ship."_

_"Will do, brotha. I suggest that we need to leave this rock right now. Just before I've taken the data from the adjutant, I've kinda... asked... a Noddie officer on what they are planning to do next, and I found out that they are planning to start a vicious counterattack very soon. The Noddies still got trump cards yet to be revealed, man, and they are planning to use them to take the Dominion forces here by surprise. This whole battle was a trap for the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron. Those Noddies have control of some gravity wells up in the orbital platform, which they are planning to use them to prevent the Dominion from escaping. We have to get out of here before they spring it... else we'll be caught in it too."_

_"Gravity wells? Now that doesn't sound good indeed. Alright boys, you heard the man, pick him up and get back to the ship. Let's get the hell out of this rock! The last thing we want is to become part of the collateral damage in this war that has nothing to do with us!"_

"In the pipe, five by five."

* * *

(Undisclosed location... Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2... Construction Yard command chamber...)

The Commander was staring and analysing the global map of Bhekar Ro displayed up in the main screen, where each and every Nod military operations and skirmishes against the Dominion invaders were displayed, recorded and updated real-time. So far, after losing control of the orbital platform to the Dominion joint task force, Nod forces across Bhekar Ro were steadily losing ground against the tyrant's forces. In fact, the Commander had just recently received news updates indicating that two of the major points of interest, the main broadcast station in Base 10 and Confederate Adjutant 23-46 in Outpost 20, had been lost to enemy forces. Through the loss of those two high profile objectives, the Commander knew that Archdeacon Ricardo and Agent Archie were most likely to have been killed in battle; he knew those two were loyal and highly devoted followers of Kane who would not easily give up the objects they were assigned to protect unless they were slain by the enemies in action. It was truly a pity for the Brotherhood to have lost those two brilliant individuals; both of them had the potential to become into Kane's favourite one day and earn a spot in the Inner Circle. The loss of those two high profile objectives would also be a very bad news since they were supposed to be part of a major plan to slander Arcturus Mengsk and the Terran Dominion; this had to be reported to Kane. Overall, the whole situation on Bhekar Ro was looking grim.

Despite the fact that the Brotherhood of Nod was gradually losing ground against the Dominion joint task force, the Commander remained calm. He already had planned on how to reverse this predicament and turned the tide of this battle. Once his plan was initiated, he could destroy both the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron in one full sweep. He just needed to make sure that every preparations had to be ready before he could begin the plan to launch a major counterattack against the unwary Dominion forces. Each step was crucial and they must be timed carefully to ensure a maximum amount of casualties dealt to the Dominion forces.

Just as the Commander was starting to feel a little impatient, LEGION announced, "COMMANDER, THE FINAL PREPARATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. OPERATION: PHILADELPHIA'S FALL IS READY TO BE EXECUTED."

An evil-looking smile appeared on the Commander's face; these were the words that he had been eagerly waiting for the last two hours.

"Excellent! LEGION, prepare to execute Operation: Philadelphia's Fall. Activate the gravity wells. Launch that missile against the platform. Activate all our reserve units for the counterattack. It's time we cleanse the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron from the face of this universe."

"ACKNOWLEDGED, COMMANDER! ACTIVATING BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM GRAVITY WELLS... STANDBY... ACTIVATING ALL RESERVE UNITS STANDBY... GRAVITY WELLS ACTIVATED... LIQUID TIBERIUM MISSILE READY... SELECT TARGET..."

* * *

(Meanwhile... somewhere underground within Bhekar Ro crust... secret Nod subterranean network depot..."

The entire scene was pitch black, since the location was deep underground beneath Bhekar Ro soil, in an undisclosed location within a secret part of the Nod subterranean network. Suddenly, a single faint red light spot illuminated the scene, followed by soft humming of engine starting and faint red flowing lines which highlighted a large, towering humanoid silhouette. Seconds later, similar light patterns illuminated all across the area, showing about a hundred similar silhouettes.

"Avatar... ready!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Philadelphia's Fall

Nod's counterattack is finally about to begin. How will the tide of Battle for Bhekar Ro flow as the Brotherhood of Nod is about to unleash some of their deadliest weapons of war against the unsuspecting Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron?

* * *

List of Nova's items so far:

Armour: Ghost hostile environment suit augmented with Crius suit

Melee weapon: Psyblade

Primary weapon: C-1X heavy gauss rifle (N), C-20A canister rifle

Secondary weapon: Flak pistol

Special weapon: E-11 lockdown device, Nuke target marker

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic radar, Dominate, Snipe, EMP rounds, Lockdown, Psi blast, Nuke (currently disabled)

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

List of Tosh's items so far:

Armour: Spectre hostile environment suit augmented with Nyx-class cloaking module

Melee weapon: Balisong

Primary weapon: Exorcist-class Tiberium combi-gun (N)

Secondary weapon: Slugthrower

Special weapon: C4 demolition charges (N)

Skills: Permanent cloaking, Psionic mind blast, Psionic shield, Consumption

('N' denotes for Nod weapons)

* * *

Nod School of Devotion

The Nod School of Devotion is the largest military branch within the Brotherhood of Nod Armed Forces, functioning as both a major academy body for Nod children and recruit training centre for new and upcoming Nod soldiers. Most children living in Nod colonies began their formal education on the ways of the Brotherhood of Nod in the school's funded academies all across major Nod colonies. Each and every Nod military personnel began their career in the recruitment and training centres managed by the Nod School of Devotion.

Also unofficially known as Nod Infantry Armed Forces, the Nod School of Devotion was the ruling body that was in charge of training new Nod disciples from devoted civilians to combat-ready Devouts. Basic military training into a Devout usually takes an average of 3 months, in which disciples are trained in basic military knowledge such as physical training, endurance training, tactical manoeuvres, weapons training, marksmanship, powered combat suit handling, survival skills in extreme environments, performance under stressful conditions, emotional conditioning, urban combat tactics, subterranean insertions and Nod military etiquettes. After completing their Devout training, new Devouts may be assigned to other branches of the Brotherhood of Nod Armed Forces and underwent through more specialised trainings, though most of them will remain in School of Devotion and become part of the school's massive infantry fighting forces.

While most disciples that have completed their military training in the school will remain as Devouts throughout the rest of their careers, some may opt to volunteer in specialist training, which include choices such as cybernetic enhancement from chaingun-wielding Devout to rocket-armed Ascended, or light vehicle training to operate Raiders and Attack Bikes. As an infantry fighting force, the School of Devotion is mainly made up of Devout and Ascended ranks. Although the Nod School of Devotion is a close equivalent to the Dominion's Marine Corp, the school does own a considerable amount of non-infantry combat units, including Raiders, Attack Bikes, Reckoners and even Carryalls.

Besides training new Nod disciples within Nod colonies, the Nod School of Devotion is also in charge of funding and training colonial militias of Nod-supported colonies outside of Nod jurisdiction. This means providing equipments, firearms, armour, vehicles, funding and teachings based on basic military combat skills for Militants and other militia forces that wish to detach their allegiance to their old Terran governments and join the holy crusade with the Brotherhood of Nod. One of the latest prime example of such activity is the Mar Sara Insurrection, in which recruiting agents from the Nod School of Devotion provided the necessary equipments, tools and trainings for the disheartened colonists of Mar Sara to coordinate with the annihilation of the Dominion's Omega Squadron. Usually, such training of Nod militia forces will also come with the benefit of receiving Tiberium infusion for the militia forces. Some of the more outstanding Militants may be picked by the recruiters and drafted into actual Nod basic military training by the School of Devotion to be trained as Devouts.

In the Brotherhood of Nod, service to the Brotherhood of Nod Armed Forces is voluntary, though exceptions frequently occur when certain potential fighters have been spotted by recruiting agents and forcefully drafted into service. Once drafted in, service to the Brotherhood of Nod is expected to be life-long, with the only way to leave service is through death. There will be no such cases such as "reaching a retirement age" or "exemption from service due to permanent disablement" in the Nod Armed Forces. Any disablements or such are not an issue to the Brotherhood, since disabled Nod soldiers can easily be reassigned to certain specialist forces where they will be enhanced or reconstructed. Despite entering service into the Nod Armed Forces being voluntary but life-long, the School of Devotion never finds any lack of participation from within Nod populations, probably due to the effective teachings by Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod. Statistics show that as high as 71% of the entire Brotherhood of Nod populations are willing to enter service into the Brotherhood of Nod Armed Forces even when they are not forcefully drafted. However, recent intelligence received by the Dominion Intelligence Section has uncovered that there is likely another reason on why the Nod Infantry Armed Forces never lack fresh disciples into their ranks.

* * *

Enlightened vs. Marauder

This fight is another request made by my buddy MegaAuthor. At first I don't really want to put this battle down since these two units had already clashed multiple times throughout this fic, but I decided to change my mind since almost all Terran infantries already have their share of their own fights, why not letting the Marauders have a go. Besides, after analysing, I realise that this strict battle between Enlightened and Marauder is not really too lop-sided than I initially thought.

**Enlightened:**

The Enlightened cyborg is one of the two most common combat cyborg types serving the Brotherhood of Nod Armed Forces. As a cyborg unit, the Enlightened stands much taller than an average man with more than half of the human body parts being cybernetically replaced with machine parts and robotic limbs. An advanced CPU is planted in each Enlightened's brain, which fully overrides the cyborg's free thinking process and connects the mind of the cyborg to the Nod command and control network, allowing commanders and LEGION to fully control their actions. This fully strips the Enlightened out from its human thoughts, causing them to behave more like robots than men. What is left of their organic origin is the few organs left to sustain the still-living body of the cyborg warrior. The Enlightened is one of the heaviest infantry unit in the Brotherhood of Nod, wearing Enlightened heavy armour, which is even heavier than the Dominion's CMC-660 powered combat suit used by the latest batch of Firebats. Together with the quick-firing 70mm "Centurion" cannon fixed to its right arm, the Enlightened is like a walking main battle tank, delivering heavy punishments against enemy tanks and armoured troops with armour-piercing shells; though they are less effective against fast-moving light units. These shells can be upgraded with Tiberium-tipped shells to corrode enemy armour, making the Enlightened even deadlier. Besides its right arm cannon, the Enlightened is also equipped with a light EMP cannon on its left arm, which is designed to fire a small area of EMP pulse to un-power enemy units , weaken or remove shields and even temporarily disable enemy machines, making them a walking nightmare for enemy tanks. The most dangerous fact about Enlightened, though, is their extreme toughness. Coupled with their heavy armour, Enlightened are extremely hard to kill even for a heavy infantry. The light EMP cannons can be upgraded to be manually converted into energy shield generators, which project a frontal energy shield to shield the Enlightened and their allies from attacks up front. Even if an Enlightened gets critically damaged in combat, these half mechanical menaces have been known to continue squirming around with their forearms even after their hind limbs have went missing, relying on their brute strength to power themselves through the field and go as far as overloading their Tiberium reactor core in their chest to take out close-by hostiles, sacrificing and blowing themselves up to take out their enemies as well. Being a half-man, half-machine cyborg unit, Enlightened can be easily healed either by allied medics, or repaired by Saboteurs or Slaves in the midst of battles. However, this also implies that Enlightened can be affected by most specific special attacks such as lockdowns and snipes, though they are capable of healing under Tiberium radiation, resistant to poisonings and radiations, and fully immune to infestations and mind-control due to special nanites implanted into their systems. As a combat cyborg unit, the Enlightened is programmed to follow every single orders given by their superiors and they will never disobey or question them. When given orders to fight, they will do so to the very end, even if it means they will not going to survive. They are programmed for war, uploaded with updated modern warfare tactics and manoeuvres such as urban warfare tactics, never fearing the uncertain and always carry out their orders with maximum efficiency. Hence the Brotherhood of Nod has always considered combat cyborgs such as Enlightened to be far more superior than the penal troops of the Terran Dominion.

**Marauder:**

The Marauder is one of the newest type of heavy infantries fielded by the Dominion, stemmed from the need to combat the increasingly hardened Zerg carapace. Adorned in a modified CMC-660 powered combat suit known as 5-4 Armoured Infantry Suit, the Marauder is much more heavily armoured and protected compared to a regular Marine, easily the hardiest common infantry type in the Terran Dominion and many other Terran factions across the Koprulu Sector. The Marauder is designed mainly as a heavy fire support for Marines, using their Quad K12 "Punisher" grenade launcher to fire Punisher grenades against hostile forces, which are especially effective in smashing through heavy armour. These grenades are frequently manufactured and loaded by the components in the suit's grenade auto-loaders. Marauders can be upgraded to fire concussive shells instead of standard Punisher grenades, which can slow down non-massive opposing enemies. With Jackhammer concussive shells, Marauders can slow an entire squad in a target area from a single grenade, thanks to the formation of a gravitational warp field when a concussive shell detonates. Like most Terran infantry units, Marauders are frequent users of stim-packs when locked in a difficult situation, sacrificing a bit of health for a massive boost in speed and aggression. Although Marauders are heavily armoured, they are still vulnerable to aerial assaults and any types of weapons that can easily destroy armour, though survivability can be improved with kinetic foam upgrades in their armour. Interestingly, Marauders have one of the least percentage of penal troops within their ranks compared to other infantry types. Statistics have shown that in 2504, 47% of Marauders have never been to jail, and only 23% have been accused of murder. Perhaps because Marauders are handling with weapons that can easily blow things up, many Terran factions seek Marauder enlistees from those who are more disciplined and have better self-control so that they will not have frequent incidents of Marauders going rogue and blowing up everything in their paths, causing unwanted destruction.

**Comparison:**

Both the Enlightened and Marauders are some of the hardiest infantry type of their respective factions. Their weapons are also heavily effective against the heavy armour of their opponents. However, if just by comparing their basic characteristics alone, the Enlightened are much more superior to the Marauders in many ways.

As a cyborg unit, the Enlightened are bigger, heavier and packed with a bigger punch than Marauders. With Tiberium-tipped shell upgrades, Enlightened can make the Marauders' heavy infantry armour ineffective by weakening their defence rating with each blow. When upgraded with energy shield generator, the Enlightened can easily absorb even more blows at the front from their Marauder foes, using the Enlightened's own energy reserves to absorb the damages first, giving them a significant edge in direct frontal combat. Even if the Marauders will to somehow deal some significant damages to them, blowing off the leg servos of the Enlightened, the resilient cyborgs can still keep on fighting and the final suicide bombing attack by legless Enlightened can threaten to blow up an entire Marauder squad.

Still, it would be too early to dismiss the Marauders' odds against their Nod cyborg counterparts. Although the Marauders' basic stats are weaker than the Enlightened, they have some significant upgrades that may allow them to turn the tides against the Enlightened. While kinetic foams can improve Marauders' survivability, a combination of stim-packs and concussive shells can completely turn the tables, slowing down Enlightened speed, while significantly increasing their own speed and attack speed. This can prove especially useful in halting legless Enlightened suicidal bombing attacks.

One huge difference between the Enlightened and Marauders is how their mindsets work. While Marauders behave like most other ordinary Terran soldiers, with independent thinking and free thoughts, Enlightened are cyborg units that behave more like robots that have been programmed to follow each and every single instructions to the detail by their commanders. This type of programming means that Enlightened will always obey their orders without question and will carry them out with maximum efficiency, though that may also make them highly predictable to the smarter enemies. While Marauders may not have the same level of obedience or efficiency as Enlightened, their free thoughts will mean that some smarter or more experienced Marauders can innovate and think up of new ideas to adapt and combat their more superior foes, such as finding a way to flank the enemy cyborgs and attack their flanks or back where the energy shield cannot guard against; though these free thoughts may cause the more cowardly ones to doubt their chances and make them choose to disobey orders or even desert ranks in the midst of battle.

Enlightened's edge:

Durability

Firepower

Tiberium-tipped shell

Energy shield

Resilience

Suicide bombing as final resort attack

Urban combat tactics

Obedience

Fearlessness

Marauder's edge:

Stim-pack

Concussive shells

Kinetic foam

Discipline and self-control

Independence

**Conclusion**

Enlightened wins if:

In a straight frontal battle with no upgrades for both sides, the Enlightened will easily dominate over their less superior Marauder counterparts with their heavier armour and heavier firepower. Last resort suicide bombing attacks can also cause more Marauder casualties if they are not careful. Also, if the battle is taking place in an urbanised area or on a Tiberium field, the Enlightened will enjoy significant terrain edge over the Marauders. In an urbanised area, Enlightened are programmed with urban combat tactics and will know how to use cover or garrison inside civilian structures; while on a Tiberium field, Enlightened can gradually regenerate their health under Tiberium radiation due to implanted special nanites, while Marauders suffer under the effect of Tiberium poisoning.

Marauder wins if:

In a less direct frontal battle, when the Marauders were upgraded with kinetic foams, stim-packs and concussive shells. Not only do these upgrades improve the Marauders' basic stats so that they can match up to those of Enlightened's, concussive shells can also reduce the Enlightened combat efficiency by slowing them down. Although energy shields can protect Enlightened from the damage dealt by the Punisher grenades, they can only protect damage applied from the front, not from the sides or back. Hence flanking will be important, and that may require a skilled or experienced Marauder to lead the attack and make a jump onto their Enlightened foes. A combination of concussive shells and stim-packs is super effective in halting a suicide bombing attack by legless Enlightened, as this combination can significantly slow down the Enlightened's approach, while the increased rate of Punisher grenade fire will quickly blow up the critically damaged Enlightened before they get too close. If all the above conditions are not met, then the best way for Marauders to beat Enlightened is simply to outnumber them, at least a 2 to 1 ratio.

* * *

And yes another chapter done! Finally the FPS viewpoint is over for now in this story. The next chapter will return back to the RTS viewpoint and yes, the Nod Avatar is about to make an appearance. If you want to know which Avatar version I would use, just look out for my next chapter. See you there!


	29. Act 28: Battle for Bhekar Ro: OperationP

Here's another new chapter of StarCraft AU: Tiberium Galaxy. Sorry for the very late update again. It's not easy to balance between life and writing, especially since I have started working. Then, when the announcement of the cancellation of the newest Command & Conquer game by EA, the disappointment caused me to lose motivation to write for some time. But don't worry, I'm back with another new chapter, featuring the Avatar that many of you are waiting for.

To Blanchimont: That's the 200th review for my story. Thank you for your support! For that, I'll be kind enough to answer your question, even if it's going to be a spoiler for this coming chapter. If you are wondering whether the Scrin will return to do the mop-up, the answer is no. This is because the although the Commander is using the Liquid T missile, there isn't enough Tiberium stashed inside the orbital platform to create the chain reaction that can cause a significant Ichor LQ detonation signal to attract the Scrin. Besides, even if the Scrin do notice the blast, they are currently too busy mobilising on Mar Sara to care. They will take note of it, but won't attack, not yet. Read on to find out.

To Guest: I know. I know that the Avatar is not the most powerful Nod ground unit ever fielded. It is, however, the most powerful standard Nod land unit that can be mass-produced. As for the Redeemer, hmm...

Anyway this storyline will take place more than 400 years after C&C4 and around the timeline of Wings of Liberty, at year 2504.

AVATAR READY!

* * *

Disclaimer: C&C belongs to EA while Starcraft belongs to Blizzard.

* * *

**ACT 28: BATTLE FOR BHEKAR RO: PHILADELPHIA'S FALL**

(High orbit over Bhekar Ro... Inside _Mjolnir _command bridge... 15 minutes before execution of Operations: Philadelphia's Fall...)

Colonel Akira Yamada and his chief computer expert, Ishida, were both still checking on their on-board adjutant, which had recently suffered from a cyberspace attack by a Nod artificial intelligence when it tried to hack and download files from the Nod database network through a control terminal in a Nod controlled main broadcast station. Although Ishida had already fully fixed the adjutant and Akira himself had confirmed that by successfully reactivating it and ordered it to re-establish command and control network across the entire Nova Squadron on the planet, both Japanese descents wanted to make sure that their adjutant did not suffer from any unwanted side-effects that might jeopardise the entire operation later.

Just then, a man rushed into the command bridge. The man was dressed in a fleet engineer get-up complete with a yellow hard hat. He appeared to be in his mid 30s if his wrinkles and messy unshaven chin were any indications. He had a lit cigar in his mouth while holding a blueprint in his hands.

"Evans! What are you doing in the bridge?" Akira asked, noticing the sudden arrival.

"Commander!" Evans called out with a thick Brooklyn accent, "I've found something that you should check it out!"

The engineer handed the blueprint to the Nova Squadron commander, who did not hesitate to take and read it.

"Isn't this the design blueprint of the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform?" Colonel Yamada asked.

"That's right, commander!" Evans replied, "I did some further analysis on the extra modifications that our enemies had installed in the platform, and I found something interesting regarding the modifications."

"Is it regarding the gravity wells? We are already fully aware of their presences and SCV Team N-09A is now trying their best to disable them. The last time they reported that 3 out of 8 sets of those wells had already been disabled."

"No, sir! It's not the gravity wells. It's the Nod resource stockpile that you should take note of."

"The resource stockpile?" Akira asked, with an eyebrow raised in intrigue. The last anomaly that he would expect from the enemy was something weird about their resource stockpile. "What's so special about their resource stockpile?"

"Well commander, do you know what kind of resource is the enemy storing inside the orbital platform?" Evans asked.

"Based on interior scans and internal security camera footages, the Nod forces seem to be stockpiling modular crates of refined forms of the alien crystals that were first sighted in Mar Sara. Initially I wanted to send another team of SCVs down there to collect them for further studies, but decided to hold off the extraction because of heavy booby trap presence. Also, the presence of enemy gravity wells inside the platform is the number one concern right now so I decide to leave the issue of collecting those crates later after the gravity well issue is settled. So what's the problem about those stockpiles?"

"The stockpiles themselves aren't anything special besides on what they are holding, commander, it's the position of those stockpiles that you should be aware of. Take a look at this..." Evans pointed out the positions of all the Nod resource stockpiles inside Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform listed on the blueprint, with each position marked by a circle. "If you take a closer look at all these positions, you will notice that the position of all these Nod resource stockpiles coincide with critical joints of this orbital platform!"

Akira's eyes widened when he heard Evans' claim. The Nova Squadron quickly scanned through the entire layout of the blueprint and realised that the engineer was right. Although Akira himself was not an expert in architecture, he could tell from the blueprint that the positions of the resource stockpiles did appear to correspond to parts of the platform which seemed to be holding up the entire platform.

"You're right, Evans! These locations do seem to match to the platform's joint positions. Are you suggesting that these stockpiles can be another potential trap for us?" the Japanese commander asked. Evans was the chief engineer on board of _Mjolnir _and probably had more knowledge regarding on this issue.

"That I don't know, sir!" the engineer in the yellow hard hat replied. "If those stockpiles are truly another one of these Nod traps, then we will have to assume that those Mar Sara crystals are as volatile as nuclear fuel. But if that's truly the case, then the Mar Sara magistrate body back then shouldn't have the problem of purging those crystals if they can just simply blow up entire crystal fields with explosives. If they don't, it's either they're too stupid or those Mar Sara crystals are not as easy to blow up as nuclear fuel."

"So if they're not used for blowing up the platform, then what is the significance of the positioning of those stockpiles?" Akira wondered.

"Perhaps it's all just a coincidence?" Akira's personal Ghost bodyguard, Agent Natasha Volstov suggested.

"I don't know, Natasha. Nevertheless, thanks for the tip, Evans. I'll take this find into consideration. Meanwhile, I want you to return to your post in the hangar. Agent Nova and her team are now returning back from the surface, and I need you to make sure that the hangar is clear for their Dropship to land."

"Understood, commander!" the chief engineer made a quick salute before leaving the bridge, heading back to the ship's hangar bay.

After seeing off his chief engineer, Akira shifted his focus back onto the blueprint. The Nova Squadron commander is getting more and more confused of the enemies' course of actions and the ex-UED captain was finding it more difficult to analyse and predict their next moves. Although the enemy resource stockpiles do seem harmless, what Evans have suggested do seem to be a matter of concern. If all those resource stockpiles really detonate with blast power equivalent to nuclear detonations, the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform would instantly break apart, destroying everything that were standing on top of it.

"This is troubling indeed. Colonel Thompson must know of this."

Currently, the Delta Squadron commanding HQ and the Nova Squadron's nuclear missile stockpiles were placed on the platform. If the platform was destroyed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

* * *

(High orbit above Bhekar Ro... Inside _Hyperion _command bridge... 10 minutes before execution of Operation: Philadelphia's Fall...)

Jim Raynor and a number of his men and _Hyperion_ command crew, including Matt Horner, Tychus Findlay and Tray Randall, were all looking and observing the current overall battlefield status on Bhekar Ro, while waiting for the arrival of someone. Just then, the hatch to the bridge opened as another person stepped in. Everyone present in the bridge shifted their attention away from the virtual mission map to see the new arrival, who happened to be the hero of the day.

"Well... look at who it is..." Tychus joked, "you certainly prove to have some purpose in this ship, ain't it Tosh?"

The new arrival, the dark-skinned white-eyed Spectre dressed in black and red Spectre hostile environment suit with his long dark dreadlocked hair tied into a single knot behind his neck, just smirked and gave a light scoff to the verbal jab.

"Alright, that's enough Tychus!" Jim cut his friend off, preventing the bigger man adorned in the blue Marine CMC powered combat suit from making any unnecessary mistakes of antagonising the powerful Spectre. Then, he turned back to Tosh and congratulated him, "Good job, Tosh! I thought you almost didn't make it out there. Glad to see you make it through, my friend."

"Oh that's just nothing, brotha..." Tosh replied, "you should have put more faith in old me. I admit those Noddies are truly a challenge to get past, but nothing is going to keep me from getting what I want."

"Indeed, you certainly do prove yourself worthy for your title, Tosh. So, may I?" Jim extended out his right hand, as if asking Tosh to hand in something.

"Oh certainly, brother! You can take it." Without hesitation, Tosh took out the memory drive that he used to store the information and records taken from the Confederate Adjutant 23-46 in the Nod outpost and tossed it to Raynor's hand. "Haven't seen what's inside there, though I do have a guess what it may be; something that Mengsk doesn't wish anybody to find out."

"Your guess is as good as mine, Tosh. So I've heard that you've got us some extra presents from the Noddies. A still functional Nod subterranean vehicle and a Nod biochemical gun, that's something that we don't usually get our hands on easily. Swann and Stetmann are going to be ecstatic. I really appreciate your help for getting some Nod toys for us, my friend."

"Just lucky to come across with them, brother, and find it convenient to bring them back during the rendezvous. I've come across many more of those Nod goodies down there, even got to try some too... especially like those misty hallucinating grenades... just too bad that I have to use them up to keep the Noddies away. Those are all I have left 'borrowed' from the Noddies."

"Sir," Tray, the youngest officer in the room, decided to cut in, "I don't mean to interrupt your chat, but I thought we are to leave this rock after Mr. Tosh had retrieved the records?"

"I agree with Tray," Matt also joined in, "if the Noddies do have gravity wells installed inside that orbital platform and they are planning to use them, maybe we should warp away first before the Noddies activate them?"

"Indeed..." Jim nodded, "Alright everyone... get your butts back to your posts! That includes you too, Tychus... and Tosh, you too! Matt, prepare this ship for a warp jump out of this system immediately!"

"Yes sir!" Matt greeted before directing the orders to the _Hyperion _commanding crew for the warp jump, "All units return to your posts! Set the warp drives at maximum level and prepare for a warp jump on my mark..."

As Matt Horner gave the orders around and others busy rushing back to their respective posts in preparation for a jump into warp space, Raynor held tight onto a virtual star chart console. Tychus had left the room heading towards the cantina, his favourite hangout spot in the ship. In the midst of chaos, Tosh approached Raynor from his back, stopping right next to him and whispered to his ears.

"Meet me at the cantina after the jump. The usual spot. Just you... and me. I've found out something from the last Nod officer that I'd finished off, and it seems to be regarding on a hidden rodent in your ship. Don't tell anyone about this... not even your young friend Horner!"

Upon hearing Tosh's words, Jim's eyes widened in shock. Although he remained silent and tried his best to remain as calm as possible, the proclamation that Tosh brought in was something too serious for him to remain calm. When Tosh referred the term "rodent", Jim's years of experience as an outlaw was well aware the hidden meaning behind the term... there was a rat in his ship, and no, not that tiny hairy critter that gnawed on anything hard and chewed cheese in the cartoons...

There was a spy in his ship!

Raynor remained silent but with his eyes still widened, either too shocked or worried from Tosh's news. Fortunately for the ex-marshal of Mar Sara colony, everyone were too busy rushing back to their posts and no one other than Tosh noticed their commander's change in facial expression.

Tosh, knowing that Jim had taken in the message, quickly walked away as he left the bridge and headed towards the cantina along with a number of other crew mates, including Tychus Findlay.

Jim spoke nothing as Matt and the _Hyperion _command crew made their final preparations for a warp jump. However, he knew where would be the next place he would be heading towards and who he should meet next.

"Mark!"

With a command from Horner, _Hyperion _opened and entered a warp rift, jumping away from the chaotic battlefields of Bhekar Ro.

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolnir _command bridge... 5 minutes before execution of Operations: Philadelphia's Fall...)

The gate into the _Mjolnir _command bridge opened, as Agent Nova Terra and Agent Fisher arrived and entered into the bridge.

"Commander Yamada, this is Agent Nova and Agent Fisher reporting back for duty!" the blonde Ghost greeted.

Akira shifted his attention from the battlefield minimap projected in the battlefield control panel and to the two Ghost agents who have returned from the skirmish in Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10. "Ah... Nova, it's good to have you back! You too, Fisher." the Nova Squadron commander returned the greet.

"Sir, I've heard rumours from Chief Engineer Evans saying that there is a possible set of explosive traps inside the orbital platform that is designed to destroy the entire platform when we got back to the ship. Can you explain about that?" Fisher asked.

"You knew? Did Evans blurt it out or did you find it out from the enemies?" Akira asked in return.

"No, commander." Nova replied for the other Ghost, "We've unconsciously picked up his thoughts after we've disembarked inside the hangar. And just before we've entered the bridge, we've detected even more thoughts about the possibility of an explosive trap inside the orbital platform from you and Agent Volstov. Also, while I was infiltrating inside the Nod base, I'd picked up the thoughts of the Nod base commander and did found out that the highest Nod command on this planet is planning to set a trap for us, with the orbital platform as a key. So I guess it's true that the orbital platform is really a trap."

"Looks like you've figured it out, Nova. Actually we still don't have the full confirmation whether the orbital platform is a trap or not. Other than the gravity wells, we've recently found out that the positions of the Nod resource stockpiles coincided with the positions of the platform's critical joints. We don't know whether those stockpiles are volatile or not, but if we assume they are, the entire platform will break apart if all of them are detonated." Akira informed the two agents.

"So those rumours of explosives inside the platform are actually the resource stockpiles that we've heard about earlier with the gravity wells. I have to agree with Evans, sir. While the stockpiles themselves don't sound that threatening, their positions are indeed a great concern." Fisher voiced out his opinion.

"I second that, commander." Nova agreed with her comrade, "If it's true that the stockpiles can be detonated with enough explosive power, this whole operation will be screwed. The entire Delta Squadron chain of command is based on that platform, and not to mention that we're keeping our Nukes on that piece of hulk too. Have you mentioned this to Colonel Thompson?" the blonde asked.

"I already did, Nova, but again that prideful idiot just dismissed my warning." Akira replied. "That fool even got the gall to accuse me of trying to demoralise his 'ol' glorious and almighty Delta Squadron fighters' and attempt to 'steal all the honour of the coming victory' for myself! Can you believe that?" The Nova Squadron commander slammed a palm forcefully onto a nearby desk, further displaying his frustration of Colonel Gary Thompson's folly.

Upon hearing their commander's rant, all the Ghosts present in the room (Nova, Fisher and Natasha) could only shake their heads and sigh. Like their commander, all three Ghosts agreed that the Delta Squadron commander Colonel Thompson was either too stubborn to listen to others' opinions or too stupid to even think logically. Anyone with a logical mind should already have suspected that something was up when the enemy had placed some strange objects in the critical points of a superstructure, even if the objects appeared to be harmless. Hell, just the presence of enemy-controllable gravity wells was already an enough proof that the orbital platform was not a safe place to set up a base camp.

'How in the name of the emperor does that brainless idiot Thompson even became a squadron commander in the first place?' all of them wondered.

"You know, Commander Yamada..." Nova suddenly voiced out, "if you're the one in charge of this operation, I believe we should have taken control of this planet by now. I would rather have you in command rather than that egoistical fool."

"Thank you, Nova. Thank you all for your support. Sadly, there is nothing we can do to convince Gary. Protocol dictates that the chief commander in a military operation would always have the final say and this can only be overridden if the chief commander was killed in action, then the second-in-command would take over the responsibility. I would be lying if I say that I'm not tempted to have Gary assassinated, but that won't be convenient in this scenario."

"That's because we're not allowed to terminate another Dominion military personnel unless ordered by a direct superior. If we did, we will be executed for treason." Fisher added.

"It's not just that, Fisher." Akira explained, "If Thompson is to perish at this moment, especially when victory is close, the High Command would first suspect me because I will have the most to gain from Gary's demise. If Gary's assassinated now, we would be the ones to be interrogated first."

"I see..." Natasha nodded, "that's why we can't do a thing to that fool. Even if we try to make an accidental death for Colonel Thompson, the High Command will have first thought that we are responsible and will investigate us first. Not a bright idea if you ask me."

"Indeed..." Akira added, "unfortunately right now, there's nothing much we can do except for trying our best to clean up Gary's blunders. Let's hope that our assumptions that the orbital platform as a Nod entrapment tool are wrong..."

* * *

(4 minutes later... 1 minute before execution of Operation: Philadelphia's Fall...)

"Sir, we've just received an incoming transmission from our engine room. It's a priority one sir." a junior officer reported to Colonel Yamada.

"Patch it in." Akira ordered.

"Yes sir!"

A side window appeared across the screen of the battlefield control panel, revealing the real-life footage of an unmasked blonde female Ghost inside the Battlecruiser's engine room. Akira immediately recognised the Ghost as Nova, who left the bridge shortly after reporting in and commenting about Colonel Thompson's incompetence in this campaign.

"Agent Nova! I thought you should have reported back to the medical bay by now. What are you doing inside the engine room?" the Nova Squadron commander asked.

"Commander, there's a situation here that I must report to you immediately. Not too long ago, Agent Fisher and I had just caught one of the communications officers heading towards the engine room while holding some kind of an unknown object. We decided to follow that officer because of his suspicious actions." Nova reported.

"WHAT? What happened next?"

"We cloaked ourselves and tracked that suspicious officer with extreme caution. Along the way, that officer had been busy looking around as if trying to make sure that no one was tailing him. We followed him entering into the engine room and caught him setting up the unknown object in his hand. We apprehended him before he could finish what he's trying to set up."

"What object is that guy setting?"

"We aren't sure. Like every other non-psionic personnel on board of this ship, he was wearing a psi-screen, so we could not read his mind. We looked at the object that he was trying to set up and both Fisher and I believed that the object looked like some kind of a beacon."

"What about the suspect?"

"Dead. The suspect appeared to have committed suicide when we were restraining him to the ground. Fisher found a bitten capsule inside his mouth, likely to be..."

"Hold it right there, Nova! Are you saying that guy consumed a toxin when you two were trying to restrain him?" Akira interrupted and asked; that kind of suicide method was beginning to look familiar to the Japanese commander and he was suspecting that something very sinister was going on.

"That's right, commander. I have my suspicion too."

"Damn it!" the worried colonel tightened his fists, fully aware of the implications behind this report. "Nova, I want you to bring that corpse to the medical bay and find out who this perpetrator is. Bring that unknown object to the lab and hand it over to 1st Warrant Officer Ishida for analysis."

"Order confirmed!"

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2... Inside Construction Yard command chamber... execution of Operation: Philadelphia's Fall...)

"COMMANDER, THE FINAL PREPARATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. OPERATION: PHILADELPHIA'S FALL IS READY TO BE EXECUTED." LEGION announced.

"Excellent! LEGION, prepare to execute Operation: Philadelphia's Fall. Activate the gravity wells. Launch that missile against the platform. At the same time, order all the other temples to launch their nuclear missiles against their assigned enemy capital ships. Activate all our reserve units for the counterattack. It's time we cleanse the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron from the face of this universe." the Commander ordered.

"ACKNOWLEDGED, COMMANDER! ACTIVATING BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM GRAVITY WELLS... STANDBY... ACTIVATING ALL RESERVE UNITS STANDBY... GRAVITY WELLS ACTIVATED... LIQUID TIBERIUM MISSILE READY... SELECT TARGET... WARNING: NUCLEAR MISSILE LAUNCHED... WARNING: LIQUID TIBERIUM MISSILE LAUNCHED!"

* * *

(Outside... Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2... )

Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2 was quite a large military base, with a Construction Yard and all kinds of Nod military structure constructed around it. The base itself housed 4 Hand of Nod structures, 4 War Factories and 4 Air Towers, together with an Operations Centre and Tech Lab. It was powered by dozens of Power Plants, and economically funded by a whopping 6 Tiberium Refineries and their Harvesters. The size of the base meant that it was an important base of operations to the Brotherhood of Nod on this planet, hence making it one of the many high priority targets by the invading Dominion task force. Fortunately, the presence of Disruption Towers, Nuke disruption field generators, Obelisks of Light and multiple defence turrets along the perimeter and inside the base ensured that the invaders did not succeed in taking down this important base.

In the centre of the base, right beside the Construction Yard, was a large Nod structure. That Nod structure was large, about as large as the Construction Yard itself. It was unique in the way that it was shaped exactly like a black metallic scorpion complete with arthropod leg-like support columns at the sides, a scorpion tail-shaped control tower at the rear, with pincer-shaped structures surrounding and 'embracing' a round circular underground silo door in front of the structure. Red windows lined the along the structure.

This was a Temple of Nod, one of the holiest structures known to the Brotherhood of Nod. This structure was frequently visited by faithful Nod pilgrims and followers around the area, as well as soldiers and other military personnel, for prayer sessions and remind themselves their life-long allegiance to the Brotherhood of Nod. Its main purpose, however, was far more sinister than just being a structure of religion. All Nod military personnel were aware that the Temple of Nod was not just a temple; it was also a missile launch site.

Just then, the silo door of the Temple of Nod opened itself, with sirens blaring across the area to signify the oncoming missile launch. In less than half a minute after the silo door was fully opened, a large ballistic missile was launched straight up into the sky, leaving a long trail of white smoke and dust along its trail.

* * *

(Back inside _Mjolnir _command bridge...)

"Sir, we're detecting energy flux originating from inside of the orbital platform!" a junior officer reported.

"WHAT? No... it couldn't be..." before Akira could finish his words, he was interrupted by another officer.

"Sir, we're receiving an incoming transmission from SCV Team N-09A."

"_Bzz... bzzz... bzzzzz... Sir... sir... this is A... Agent... West... here... bzz... bzzz... bzzzzz... the gravity... gravity wells... have been... act... activated... bzz... bzzz... bzzzzz... the pressure... we... we can't... hold... hold on any... any longer... bzz... bzzz... G... GRRRAAAHHH..."_

The transmission was abruptly ended by a loud sickening squelching sound, followed by an unending buzz along the transmission channel. The crew remained silent, shocked and surprised on the sudden turn of event.

'My god... we're too late! The gravity wells have been activated... and Team N-09A... they must have been exposed to the sudden increase of gravitational pull at close proximity! Assuming if all remaining 5 sets of wells have been activated... they never stand a chance...' Akira thought, feeling sorry for the poor brave men deployed out there to try to disable the wells. They must have been brutally crushed to death by now.

A siren suddenly blared across the command bridge of _Mjolnir_, alerting the entire crew of personnel present inside the bridge.

"_Siren... _WARNING: NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED!" Adjutant 111-231 announced.

"Sir, we've detected multiple nuclear missile launches all across Bhekar Ro surface! All of them seem to be heading towards the fleet!" a junior officer reported.

"Sir, we've detected an unknown ballistic missile launched from Bravo area on Bhekar Ro surface. The size of the missile suggests that it's an ICBM class." a senior officer reported.

"Sir, one of the nuclear missiles' heading towards us!" another senior officer added.

"What are you waiting for? Steer the ship away from the missile trajectory!" Akira ordered.

"Sir, the ship's not responding to our control! We can't move her!" the first senior officer reported frantically.

"It's the gravity wells, sir. They are pulling the ship closer towards the platform. We can't control the ship when the wells' active. The heavy gravitational pull is also preventing us from making any warp jumps. We have to do something about this, commander, or else the enemy Nuke is going to destroy us!" Ishida informed.

"I know... now I see what the enemy commander is planning with the orbital platform... this is really a trap for us!" Akira exclaimed, with cold sweat dripping along his head and neck. The situation had suddenly turned very grim for the Nova Squadron commander. Held in place by the gravity wells activated inside the nearby Bhekar Ro orbital platform with a nuclear missile heading towards their ship, the entire Nova Squadron command chain was now facing the threat of total annihilation. Judging by the speed of the incoming missile, it would be too late to evacuate the ship. To the former UED commander, there was only one option left for them to get out of this predicament. "There's only one option left... all units, direct the ship's full power to the engines. We have to maintain control and at least steer the ship away from that missile's trajectory!" the Japanese commander barked out.

"But sir, the wells..." Ishida tried to remind his superior, only to be cut short by the said superior.

"I know, but we have to try. It's either we succeed and avoid the enemy nuke to fight for another day, or we'll die trying, and I'll rather test our luck to try than succumb ourselves to a nuclear annihilation! Now direct full power to the engines and get us out of here!"

"YES SIR!" the crew echoed across the bridge, as they got busy executing their commander's order.

Shortly after the crew inputted the command, a loud ship engine noise echoed across the entire ship as the _Mjolnir_'s powerful Behemoth-class reactor worked overtime to drive the ship engine into overdrive. The engines of _Mjolnir _were releasing energy several times than its usual output, threatening to burn themselves out. Still, Akira's gamble seemed to pay off, as the massive capital ship began to show signs of movement... away from the pull exerted by the gravity wells in the orbital platform.

"It's working! Maintain control of the ship and steer us away from that missile!" Akira barked out, trying to lift up his crew's morale while maintaining control of the whole situation.

"Sir, that nuclear missile is going to impact with us in just under one minute! We are not going to make it!" Ishida shouted with a panicking tone. Besides Ishida, Akira also noticed signs of anxiety in the faces of the rest of his crew. Hell, even Akira himself was now sweating bullets.

Still, despite the looming threat of a nuclear death, the Nova Squadron commander was not willing to give up without a fight. Looking up in the ship's scanner screen, the ex-UED captain noticed that incoming missile was approaching at an almost perpendicular angle to the ship's port side underneath and at around 8 o' clock direction, so tilting the ship would not seem to help much. The missile was fast, too fast in the way that it seemed unlikely that the ship's downward-facing ATS laser batteries could intercept it in time before the impact. The only remaining option was to steer clear out of the missile's way.

"I don't care if we burn up the entire engine, propel the ship forward at full blast, NOW!"

The crew diligently obeyed to their determined commander and focused all their attention to steer the ship. With the ship's all four engines blowing off at their highest possible maximum output, _Mjolnir _was finally making progress in propelling itself forward. During this ordeal, Akira turned his full attention towards the missile signal in the scanner screen, monitoring the missile's movements.

Time seemed to slow down, as Akira eyed at the missile signal, which seemed to drift further and further away from the ship as _Mjolnir _propelled forward at full power. Then, excitement and relief washed upon the Nova Squadron commander as the signal showed that the incoming missile had definitely missed the ship by a very narrow margin.

"We did it, boys! We've dodged the nuclear missile!"

A series of loud cheer echoed across the bridge, as crew celebrated their narrow escape from certain death. From the inside of the command bridge, Akira could see the missile flying off from a distance, heading towards the empty deep space since it had not hit its intended target. The missile seemed to belong to the class that would detonate on impact, hence the lucky break. If it was a timed missile, then it would have ended very differently. The Nova Squadron was very lucky today.

"Looks like we've just dodged a bullet, guys. We're really lucky to have escaped." the spectacled commander congratulated. "Now I know everyone's excited, but don't forget that this battle is still far from over, so let's return our focus back to that mystery missile..."

"Sir, look!" one of the senior officers alerted the Japanese descent, pointing at the scenery displayed outside of the bridge. The officer was pointing at another Battlecruiser, which Colonel Yamada recognised it as _Nordic Pride_, a Behemoth-class Battlecruiser attached to the Nova Squadron, and one of _Mjolnir _escort ships.

Akira would have reprimanded that senior officer for interrupting him for such a trivial matter if not for one thing; like _Mjolnir _seconds earlier, the engines of _Nordic Pride _seemed to be blasting at full power, slowly propelling itself forward despite the pull exerted by the gravity wells inside the nearby orbital platform. Like _Mjolnir _seconds earlier, there was a nuclear missile heading straight towards it. However, unlike the situation faced by _Mjolnir _earlier, the missile seemed to be homing towards _Nordic Pride_, even though the ship was continuously on the move.

'Wait… wait a second! That nuke's homing towards _Nordic Pride_? How did…'

Before Colonel Yamada finished his thoughts, the missile struck home, despite the best effort by _Nordic Pride _to steer away from the missile's trajectory. Unlike the missile that was targeting _Mjolnir _seconds earlier, this missile had been tracking and homing in towards the other Battlecruiser the entire time, as if it had the massive warship already locked on before being launched. At the moment of impact, a massive explosion engulfed the entire capital ship, instantaneously blowing up the Battlecruiser into uncountable number of smaller fragments while the crew inside _Mjolnir _could only helplessly witness the destruction of its escort ship. The nuclear explosion sent the fragments scattered and flying off to all directions around its epicentre, with some of them heading straight towards _Mjolnir_.

"Brace for impact!" Akira quickly warned the others, who had all started grabbing something to prepare for the inevitable collision with the scattered fragments. A series of heavy jerks and banging noises could be felt and heard respectively as the fragments collided with the Nova Squadron flagship. Fortunately, all the fragments were not too large and the flagship was able to survive the rain of neosteel without sustaining too much damage.

"Adjutant, status report!" Akira requested shortly after the barrage of neosteel fragments.

"CURRENT SHIP INTEGRITY AT 79%... MINOR HULL DAMAGE DETECTED ON STARBOARD WING AND BOW… STATUS: OPERATIONAL AT SATISFACTORY LEVEL…" Adjutant 111-321 replied.

"What the hell… did you see that commander? That nuke had followed _Nordic Pride_ and blew it up! It followed the _Nordic Pride_!" Ishida exclaimed.

"I've noticed that too, commander." Natasha also voiced her opinion. "Don't you think that it's strange, commander? The Nuke that chased _Nordic Pride _had followed the ship all the time and hit its intended target despite _Nordic Pride_'s effort to avoid the missile. Even when it propelled forward under the gravity pull, the Nuke just homed in towards the ship and blew it up. The enemy Nuke seemed to have features to track and home in towards their target, yet we manage to escape while _Nordic Pride _didn't…"

Suddenly, before Natasha could finish her sentence, Adjutant 111-321 made a sudden announcement,

"ALERT: RECEIVING MULTIPLE INCOMING TRANSMISSIONS... STANDBY..."

_"Bzz... bzzz... Sir... this is Valhalla... the gravity wells' pulling the ship... enemy nuke closing in... we... we can't shake it... oh... oh shit... it's following us... we're not going to make it... no... no... NOOOOO!"_

A huge vibration was felt across the bridge in _Mjolnir_ at the same time as the transmission from _Valhalla _was cut short. Akira peered to the scenery outside of the flagship, witnessing the complete destruction of another one of Nova Squadron's Battlecruiser by an enemy nuclear missile. The spectacled commander immediately knew what had happened to the _Valhalla _in the end.

Before the crew in _Mjolnir _command bridge could mourn for the fallen crew in their escort ship, another transmission suddenly cut in.

_"Bzz... bzzz... Sir... this is Axe of Dominion... that blasted nuke is tracking us... and that blasted platform is pulling us... we can't shake it off... oh shit..."_

Another powerful shockwave was felt, letting the Colonel Yamada and his crew aware that another one of their Battlecruisers had been lost.

Shortly after the destruction of _Axe of Dominion_, another transmission cut in. However, by this time, Akira had stopped listening to them.

"Dear... god, how did it turn out this way?" the Nova Squadron commander was wondering what had went terribly wrong. How could they have missed all those nuclear launches across the entire planet? Those Nukes could not have magically appeared; the enemy must had stored their Nukes somewhere on this planet and they should have noticed a few launch sites before they began this operation. How did the Brotherhood of Nod coordinate such an elaborate massive scale precise nuclear strikes?

'No, wait... how did those Nod people even target their Nukes against us in the first place?' Akira wondered. Usually, a nuclear launch strike could only be successfully executed when a target painting unit, usually a Ghost, painted a target area for a nuclear bombardment. Without a painting unit, there was no way to lock on a distant target area for the nuclear missile to strike. The only other method of successful nuclear strike was to blindly bombard an entire region or even the whole planet surface with a barrage of nuclear missiles launched from the orbit, a common practice employed by warring Terran factions during the Guild Wars. From observing the destruction of _Nordic Pride _and _Axe of Dominion_, it was obvious to the ex-UED commander that the Nod forces did not fire their Nukes blindly and hoping for a lucky hit. In fact, their Nukes seemed to have some form of target tracking function to lock on towards their targets, as evidenced by the Nukes tailing the moving Battlecruisers before striking them down. If this was the case, how did _Mjolnir _escape from its tailing nuclear missile? How did the Nod nuclear strike work? Could there by anyway to get around their nuclear strikes?

"Adjutant, check the status of the entire Nova Squadron on this planet. How many ships remain?"

The adjutant made a few seconds of calculation before giving the reply, "STATUS OF NOVA SQUARON REMAINING IN BHEKAR RO SYSTEM: 77% OF FORCES LOST TO THE ENEMY NUCLEAR STRIKES. OUT OF 12 NOVA SQUADRON WARSHIPS THAT HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE OPERATION, 3 SHIPS REMAINED. THE 3 REMAINING NOVA WARSHIPS REMAINING ARE AS FOLLOWED: _MJOLNIR... FENRIR... LYCANTHROPE..._"

"Only 2 other Nova ships remaining? How did they survive?" Akira asked.

"_LYCANTHROPE _SUCCESSFULLY INTERCEPTED AND DESTROYED ITS TAILING NUCLEAR MISSILE WITH ITS LASER BATTERIES. REASON FOR _FENRIR _SURVIVAL... SUCCESSFUL AVOIDANCE OF MISSILE TRAJECTORY... REASON UNKNOWN..."

"Never mind, I guess I'll ask them later. What about the Delta Squadron?"

"ANALYSING DELTA SQUADRON STATUS ON BHEKAR RO SYSTEM... STANDBY... WARNING: UNKNOWN MISSILE INBOUND ONTO BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM!"

"Oh no!" Akira exclaimed, remembering that they still had their entire supply of their own Nukes reserved for this operation still placed on top of the platform. If that unknown missile was designed to take out the platform, the resulting explosion should be catastrophic. Although it sounded unlikely that a single missile could destroy an entire orbital platform, Akira was not willing to take any more risks, especially after seeing so many miraculous feats that his new opponents could pull off. "Maintain full power to the engines! Pull this ship away from the platform as far away as possible!"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

(Meanwhile... On top of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform... Inside Delta Squadron HQ Command Centre...)

'How the hell did this happen?'

Colonel Gary Thompson, commander of Delta Squadron, as well as chief commander of this entire Bhekar Ro recapture operation, still could not fully understand what had just happened to this place. Just a few minutes ago, the heavily bearded Dominion commander was busy coming up with new strategies to try to combat the stubborn Nod defenders on this planet surface, when suddenly, without warning, he felt a massively powerful gravitational pull. Based on all available intelligence, it seemed that the enemy had just finally decided to activate the blasted gravity wells. Those Nova Squadron SCV team sent by Colonel Yamada must have failed to defuse all the wells in time.

'Drat! So is that the enemy plan? Immobilizing us with their gravity wells? Sound like a plan that only a child can think up of...' Colonel Thompson tried to assure himself, despite the fact that he and his entire squadron had been rendered immobile on this platform, being at such close vicinity under the influence of so many activated gravity wells. Unknown to the egoistical colonel, this was just the beginning.

"_Siren... _NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED!" the Delta Squadron adjutant suddenly announced.

"WHAT? How the hell do terrorists get nukes?" Gary was shocked by the sudden announcement. The chief commander of the joint fleet task force struggled under the enhanced gravitational pull to reach towards the battlefield command and control panel screen in the middle of the Command Centre control chamber. When he saw the screen, it confirmed the adjutant's warning of impending nuclear attack. In fact, there were more than just one Nuke launched, and each of them was heading towards each and every of his Battlecruisers in the orbit. "Im... Impossible! How the hell do those terrorists find so many Nukes?"

"Sir, we have detected an unidentified ICBM heading straight towards the platform!" a senior officer reported.

"Is that ICBM another Nuke?" Gary asked.

"Signature reading suggested that it is not a nuclear weapon, but the energy readings of the unknown missile suggests that it may be some kind of a powerful chemical weapon. Whatever it is, the enemy must have planned to use it to infect the entire orbital platform rather than destroying it! We need to do something sir! We are literally sitting right on top of the orbital platform! If that ICBM is to detonate, we'll be... "

Gary did not listen fully to his officer's words as he resumed watching at the battlefield screen. He did not have to. He knew what his officer was trying to tell. The heavily bearded chief commander was now secretly panicking in the inside; he had finally realised the severity of the situation. With the incoming chemical missile, he knew that this base was now in danger. He was in danger.

"Damn it! What the hell are you idiots waiting for, lift-off this damned Command Centre and get us the hell out of this platform!" the chief commander shouted to his subordinates.

"We already tried that, sir, but we can't. The gravity wells are pulling the Command Centre down. We don't have enough power to lift-off the Command Centre under this kind of situation!" another senior officer replied.

"If we can't lift-off out of here, then get down those damned Dropships and order them to get us out of here!" Gary shouted.

"That ain't possible too, sir. When the gravity wells were activated, all our Dropships were instantly grounded. Some of them just crashed onto the platform, while the remaining ones were just stuck onto the platform surface, as if being glued to the platform surface."

"Damn it!" the Delta Squadron commander cursed at the revelation. Every events happening around him had pointed out the fact that there was no way out for him.

'If it isn't those gravity wells, we should have already on our way getting out of this mess... wait... so that's what those gravity wells are for? Damn it! Why did I not think of that?" Gary cursed himself, blaming himself for his own folly of dismissing the enemy installed gravity wells as a credible threat. Now he had to pay the price for his own folly.

"Sir, we've just lost half of all our ships to the Nukes!" a junior officer reported frantically.

"Sir, _Grendel _has been destroyed!"

"_Siren... _WARNING: UNKNOWN MISSILE IMPACT IMMINENT... IMPACT IN T-MINUS 10 SECONDS..." the Delta Squadron adjutant counted down. The crew within the Command Centre had already started panicking, but sadly due to the enhanced gravitational pull, these people could go nowhere. They were all going to die.

'Damn it! This is not what it should be! The Delta Squadron should have ended up victorious for the glory of the Terran Dominion! How could we have lost to a bunch of no-name terrorists! They should be no match against our might... we should have crushed them with ease! I can't accept this outcome... no... I can't!'

In his last final moment, Colonel Gary Thompson, commander of Delta Squadron and chief commander of this operation of reclaiming Bhekar Ro for the Terran Dominion, still could not admit his defeat against the Brotherhood of Nod, not even when the unknown ICBM struck.

* * *

(Outside of the Delta Squadron HQ Command Centre... Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform in high orbit above Bhekar Ro...)

Around the Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, destruction was rampant. More than half of the total amount of Dominion capital ships were blasted into oblivion, courtesy of the numerous nuclear missiles launched by the Brotherhood of Nod from Bhekar Ro surface. Due to the gravitational pull exerted by the activated gravity wells within the platform itself, the Dominion warships could hardly move out of the way, let alone warp away from their doom. Even those that did manage to accelerate forward a bit by directing the entire ship's power reserves to the engines, their relief did not last long when the nuclear missiles seemingly locked on to them, tracked them and eventually destroyed them in the end. The results were uncountable number of burning radioactive neosteel fragments and debris scattered across the orbit.

As for Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform itself, it would soon meet its own turn of destruction. Just then, from beneath the orbital platform itself, a large ballistic missile was zooming towards the orbital platform itself. Then, it impacted.

Although the missile was quite large, its size suggested that it should not be big or powerful enough to destroy the entire orbital platform by itself since it was not even a nuclear weapon at all. However, although it was not a nuclear weapon, it was part of the grand design to obliterate the orbital platform in one shot.

The missile held a Liquid Tiberium warhead. At the moment of impact, the Liquid Tiberium warhead within the missile detonated, unleashing a devastating green explosive yield of more than 200 megaton thermonukes, the same type of explosive that had devastated Earth and Mar Sara before. Shortly after the primary detonation, a chain reaction was initiated within the inner chambers of the orbital platform itself. The resource stockpiles left behind by the Brotherhood of Nod were all comprised of processed Tiberium crystals. As the stockpiles nearest to the impact zone got detonated by the primary Liquid Tiberium warhead detonation, a chain reaction was created. Like a circuit of demolition charges placed inside a building set for demolition, a chain explosion occurred as the Tiberium resource stockpiles detonated and exploded under the influence of the Liquid Tiberium chain explosion. As a result of the chain explosion, the interior chambers of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform were instantly washed in a sea of greenish explosive flames.

Despite the total destruction of the orbital platforms inner chambers, the destruction of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform was not over yet. As the interior chambers could not contain the built-up energies unleashed by the chain explosion, the entire superstructure of the orbital platform began to crack. The superstructure damages were especially severe at the locations where the resource stockpiles were first placed, and all these locations happened to be critical points of the orbital platform. As the critical points of the orbital platform took in severe damage, the entire superstructure began to split apart.

During the splitting of the superstructure, enormous cracks began to appear on the surface of the orbital platform. These cracks served as channels for some of the built-up explosive heat and kinetic energy of the Liquid Tiberium warhead detonation to escape out from the interior chambers, causing devastating surface explosions that destroyed the Delta Squadron base structures and units. Although the Liquid Tiberium detonation also destroyed the activated gravity wells grounding the Dominion joint fleet task force, the instantaneous chain explosion meant that there was no time for the grounded Dominion troops to escape. The entire Delta Squadron that had been stationed on the orbital platform itself did not stand a chance.

Just then, a series of catastrophic explosions occurred at one end of the doomed orbital platform. That end was where the Nova Squadron had set up a stockpile of Apocalypse-class nuclear missiles that were supposed to be used for the operation. When one surface explosion struck the area, the stockpiled Nukes detonated, instantly obliterating the area in a nuclear wipe-out. Not only were all Terran structures and units near the area were instantly vaporised, the nuclear explosion shattered the entire affected end of the orbital platform superstructure.

The nuclear explosion combined with the Liquid Tiberium chain explosion within the interior chambers eventually shattered the already-splitting apart Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. The orbital platform broke down into hundreds of burning fragments. The force of the explosions scattered and shot some of the fragments into deep space, while others were knocked out of the planet's orbit and began to make their fiery descents into Bhekar Ro surface.

Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform was no more. With its destruction, almost the entire Delta Squadron and one-sixth of Nova Squadron were annihilated. Among the casualties were the entire Delta Squadron HQ, including Colonel Gary Thompson, commander of Dominion Armed Forces Delta Squadron and chief commander of this entire operation.

* * *

(High orbit above Bhekar Ro... Inside _Mjolnir _command bridge...)

The crew of _Mjolnir _remained silent, as they witnessed in shock and horror of the total destruction of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. They knew that at the moment right before the impact by the unknown Nod ballistic missile, the gravity wells installed within the interior chambers of the orbital platform were still being activated, preventing any escape and evacuation attempts by the Dominion personnel stationed on top of the platform. As a result, one-sixth of Nova Squadron as well as all of its Nuke stockpiles, alongside with most of the Delta Squadron. Colonel Akira Yamada was also certain that his colleague Colonel Gary Thompson and the entire Delta Squadron command chain were amongst the list of KIA personnel when the orbital platform broke apart.

"Sir, we've just confirmed it..." a senior officer reported solemnly, "Delta Squadron HQ Command Centre was destroyed along with Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform. Their flagship _Grendel _was struck down by an enemy nuclear missile... we've lost contact with Chief Commander Gary Thompson..."

"Understood..." Akira acknowledged the confirmation. With the death of the chief commander of this operation, the Nova Squadron commander was now the highest ranking surviving Dominion personnel in this battle, meaning that he was now officially in charge in the overall command of this entire operation. As the new chief commander of this operation, his next orders clearly defined his next course of actions.

"Order all our ground troops to evacuate and retreat back to all our surviving ships... all Battlecruisers are to deploy their Dropships to pick up our ground forces... Adjutant, try to establish communication channels with the remnants of the Delta Squadron... inform them the death of Colonel Gary Thompson and the orders to retreat from me as the new chief commander of this operation. Once we've rallied what's left of this task force, we'll warp back to Dylarian Shipyards for repairs. We're leaving..."

For the ex-UED captain, this battle was already a lost cause. The near total annihilation of Delta Squadron as well as the loss of the entire Delta Squadron command chain already meant that this task force had lost about 3/4 of its total strength, and that did not include the loss of 1/6 of Nova Squadron. Without an orbital staging area and with only a few handful of Battlecruisers left in the orbit, there was absolutely no way this task force could keep on fighting. Judging by the number of Nukes the enemy had just launched to annihilate the vast majority of their fleet, the Nova Squadron could assume that the enemy Nod defenders stationed on the planet surface would still have plenty of fight left with them. Without the support of the reserve forces and Nukes stockpiled on the now destroyed Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, and without adequate Battlecruisers remaining in orbit, the task of crushing Nod resistance on this planet became seemingly impossible. If those Nod defenders could hold them off comfortably even before they destroyed the orbital platform, imagine how much easier would they find to defend their strongholds at this point of time when the attacking Dominion task force had lost all of their orbital support. Judging from all he knew about the Mar Sara Insurrection, Colonel Yamada was well aware that those Nod forces would not hesitate to turn defence into offence if given the opportunity. If this was the case, then the ground forces still on Bhekar Ro surface would be in a virtual state of isolation without orbital support and in risk of getting picked off by Nod offensives. He must get his Dropships down to evacuate them as quickly as possible before it was too late.

"Commander, you're saying that we should give up this operation?" Akira's Ghost bodyguard, Natasha, asked.

"We have no choice, Natasha..." the Nova Squadron commander replied, "that series of missile strikes had depleted more than three-quarter of the entire task force. We simply don't have enough personnel left to combat our enemies anymore. If our enemies can launch that many Nukes to wipe out most of our forces, we can assume that the enemy defences are still strong. If we stay along any longer, we may suffer the same fate as the Omega Squadron. No, we can't suffer that same fate! I have to get back to Korhal and report all of these to the High Command. The emperor must be aware that we need every available tools we have if we want to defeat the Brotherhood of Nod. I hope you can understand, Natasha."

The brunette Ghost lowered her head as if in a deep thought. She remained silent for about half a minute before lifting up her head and looked straight into Akira's eyes.

"Indeed, I agree with you this time, Commander." the psionic bodyguard voiced out her own point of view. Although her emperor had given prior orders for her to keep a watchful eye onto the ex-UED commander and make sure that he would complete his mission, she was not an unreasonable person. Even as a foot soldier, the Ghost could see that current situations were dire for the Dominion joint fleet task force and it would be virtually impossible to defeat the Brotherhood of Nod right now and complete the objectives given by Emperor Mengsk. In this kind of situation, the best course of action was to retreat back to friendly territory as soon as possible while taking along with as much intelligence about their enemy as they could. They now knew the reasons why they could not succeed in gathering vital intelligence from their Nod enemies and they must let Emperor Mengsk know about that as well, so that the next time when they attempted another hacking attempt onto a Nod database, they would have the right tool or enough tools for the task. "Let's make this quick... the emperor must be aware about what these enemies are capable of. I'll inform the emperor that you're not the person to blame for this failure. That person's to be blamed is that dead fool Colonel Thompson."

"I'm glad that we've made an understanding, Natasha..." Akira thanked the special agent for her support, before turning his attention back to rallying the surviving units of the sudden Nod Nuke barrage.

* * *

(Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2... Inside Construction Yard command chamber... 5 minutes after execution of Operation: Philadelphia's Fall...)

"COMMANDER... THE LIQUID TIBERIUM MISSILE HAD SUCCESSFULLY DETONATED AND DESTROYED BHEKAR RO ORBITAL PLATFORM... THE ORBITAL PLATFORM'S DESTRUCTION HAD DESTROYED THE ENTIRE DOMINION FORCES DELTA SQUADRON BASE OF OPERATION AS WELL AS 1/6 OF NOVA SQUADRON FORCES... NUCLEAR MISSILE BARRAGE HAD DESTROYED 35 OUT OF 40 ENEMY BATTLECRUISERS IN THE ORBIT... EXECUTION OF OPERATION: PHILADELPHIA'S FALL IS A SUCCESS, COMMANDER... WE ARE NOW AWAITING FOR YOUR ORDERS OF FOLLOW-UP ATTACKS AGAINST THE REMAINING DOMINION FORCES..."

"Good to hear that… LEGION, activate all our reserve units. The time has come for us to wipe out the stain of this world that is known as the Terran Dominion…" the Commander ordered.

"ACKNOWLEDGED, COMMANDER… DEPLOYING ALL RESERVE UNITS INTO BATTLEFIELD, STANDBY… DEPLOYMENT SUCCESSFUL, COMMANDER… STANDBY FOR YOUR NEXT ORDERS…"

* * *

(Outside Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2…)

Just a few distance outside the front gates of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2, a series of tremors were felt shortly just before several Nod Transport Drills burst out of the ground. The drills opened up, deploying squadrons of Nod Venom fighters numbering in hundreds. As soon as they were out into the planet surface, the scores of light fighters took off into the sky while maintaining flight formation.

Shortly after the first wave of Transport Drills had submerged back into beneath the earth, a second wave of Transport Drills made their turn to burst out of the ground and deploy out their loads. This second wave of reinforcements were made up of squads of Nod combat infantries and cyborg units, as well as light vehicles such as Raiders and Attack Bikes. Just then, a third wave of reinforcements came in another wave of Transport Drills burst out of the ground from an area a few hundred metres away from the second wave of reinforcements. This wave of drills deployed squads of heavier Nod vehicles, including Flame Tanks, Stealth Tanks and Chameleons. Accompanying them were also squads of Reckoners and Scorpion Tanks, which burst out of the ground by themselves.

As the Nod ground troops deployed from the second and third wave of Transport Drills began to aggregate and march towards their assigned locations, a fourth wave of Transport Drills burst out the ground about half a mile in front of them. Instead of deploying squads of units, each of these drills opened up to release a tall, massive single unit. Each of these units appeared to be a towering, 10-storey high armoured bipedal walker. The legs were heavily armoured, long, sturdy and reverse-jointed, designed to protect these critical points of an assault walker and ensured that they were strong enough to support the weight of the massive walker. The waist was segmented and relatively narrow, giving the walker a slimmer but also taller profile. Instead of guns or weapon systems that were attached to the shoulders like most combat walkers were designed, this walker was equipped with long, slender arms with each arm ending with a set of three grappling digits including an opposable thumb, suggesting designs for actual item grabbing. The head was triangular in shape, with a large single menacing-looking red optic. Ports were seen on multiple parts of the walker, mainly the left side of the head, top of both shoulders, centre of the chest and top of left wrist. Overall, the walker appeared to be tall, slender and humanoid-looking. Despite their seemingly fragile appearance, each walker were heavily armoured, covered with black heavy armour plating all over the entire walker. Each walker were painted in black and red colour scheme similar to all other Nod vehicles, with Nod symbols painted at both sides of the shoulders. Red LED lights flowed across the outline of the entire walker body frame and together with the large single glowing red optic light, gave the walker an appearance of a threatening-looking futuristic alien metallic titan bent for destruction along its path.

These walkers were the latest generation of Avatars, a legendary line of Nod war machines that had helped the Brotherhood of Nod to achieve many victories during the Third and Fourth Tiberium Wars hundreds of years ago on Earth. Now, after 400 years of absence, these legends had returned to terrorise the battlefield once more.

Elsewhere, similar phenomenon were taking place across multiple locations all over on Bhekar Ro surface. The Commander's reserve units stationed Bhekar Ro were all deployed en masse through subterranean insertions, ready to wipe out the Dominion invaders with a sea of zealous Nod warriors and war machines.

* * *

(Remains of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10…)

It had been nearly two hours since the takeover of the Bhekar Ro Main Broadcast Station in Base 10. The sky was darkening, signifying the approach of dusk. However, tonight, there would be something extraordinary appearing in the coming night sky.

In front of the entrance of the Main Broadcast Station, a team of Reapers from the Nova Squadron stared straight up into the sky in awe. Just a few metres away from the Reaper team, the Delta Squadron 2nd Division strike force led by Siege Tank commander Lieutenant Craig Anderson also stopped their actions to look up at the unexpected scenery in the dusk sky.

A bright rain of fireballs could be seen streaking across the dusk sky on Bhekar Ro, leaving trails of flames and smoke behind like a rain of meteorites, heading straight towards various locations on the planet surface.

"What the hell? Meteor showers at a time like this?" one of the Reapers exclaimed.

"Wait a second... isn't that direction supposed to be where the orbital platform is?" Marauder Sergeant Scott pointed out to his squadron mates.

"Damn it! You're right, Sergeant Scott! Something must have happened back in HQ!" Lieutenant Anderson remarked.

As the Delta Squadron soldiers were busy debating on what could have happened, the Reapers of the Nova Squadron were discussing other topics among themselves.

"Hey sarge, you don't think that our HQ could also be..." one of the Reapers asked his superior.

"I hope not..." the Reaper leader replied, "the last time I checked, our HQ's still inside the _Mjolnir_. That amount of debris looks too much to be from _Mjolnir_... hold on, I think I've just received a new transmission."

"From HQ?" the same Reaper asked.

"Yes, it's from HQ. At least that confirmed that HQ's still alright." the Reaper leader remarked as he listened attentively to the new set of instructions given from the Nova Squadron command up in the planet orbit. After about a minute of listening, the Reaper leader cut the transmission and turned towards his squad mates. "Alright listen up, maggots, there's some change of plans. Initial orders instructed us to clean up this building and prepare it to be captured by our mech boys..." the leader informed his squad mates, pointing at the Main Broadcast Station behind him, "well you know what? Forget those last orders! Commander Yamada just confirmed us that those Nod bastards had indeed nuked the hell out of the Delta Squadron and more than half of our fleet. Those meteor showers earlier, they're all what's left of the orbital platform that we've just captured hours earlier. We're undermanned now, so the chief just gave us the orders to prepare for retreat."

"So that means we're leaving that thing alone now?" another Reaper asked.

"No, chief wanted that thing destroyed. He said that if we cannot capture that broadcast station, then we're not going to let those Nod bastards use it too. We're to demolish that thing down before our pickup arrives."

"Fair enough." the rest of the Reaper squads agreed to the order. Although it was a shame that their anticipation for a coming battle would be cut short by the retreat order, at least they had a big building to blow up.

"Alright team, prepare your D-8s and G-4s, we're gonna need lots of them to blow that shit up!"

"It's on now!"

"Gonna have me some fun!"

* * *

(5 minutes later...)

While the Nova Squadron Reaper team were still inside the Main Broadcast Station, setting up the demolition charges in preparation of destroying the massive broadcast station, the Delta Squadron 2nd Division strike force were stationed a moderate distance away from the building. They were having a heated argument among themselves since after Siege Tank Commander Lieutenant Anderson received the ill news that their chief commander and headquarters had been lost from his direct superior back in 2nd Division base camp.

"What do you mean we've lost HQ? Are you saying that those meteor showers just now were what used to be our HQ?" another Siege Tank commander questioned.

"That's what the major said, Arnold." Lieutenant Anderson replied, "From I heard there's been some new orders circulating around, telling us to fall back and prepare to retreat away from this rock."

"On whose orders? Shouldn't only Colonel Thompson have the authority to give the final orders, and isn't he's dead?" Scott asked.

"On Colonel Yamada's orders. Turns out that the Nova geeks' boss is one of the few lucky ones to survive the enemy's nuking. Protocol dictates that Colonel Yamada would be the next in line to take charge of this operation if our chief commander hits the dirt. Since that has happened, Yamada is now the new chief commander and he has the final words."

"I don't like this." Scott ranted, clearly unhappy with the sudden change in command chain, "Now we're going to follow orders from the leader of those Nova freaks. Isn't he used to be one of those UED bastards that attacked Korhal? Why should we even trust that guy? And look what's the first order he gave us... a retreat order! This is a disgrace! We should avenge our fallen brothers-in-arms and kill all those Nod bastards on this rock, not turning tail! Yamada's a wimp and a coward to issue this absurd order!"

"Relax, Scott..." Anderson tried to calm down his enraged subordinate, "I'm not happy with this either, but this is something that is out of our control. It's all part of the protocol, my friend. Besides, Colonel Yamada's retreat order may be a coward's move, but what he's doing does make sense. Did anyone of you even have any idea how many of our forces have perished when that orbital platform up there blew up? Do you think we can even get anymore fire support or reinforcements? We're on our own out there, my friend, even the major and I have to agree that a retreat order would be wise at this moment."

"But I still see no reason why we should back out just because we're now outnumbered." Scott rebuked, "Those Nod bastards are weak! We've seen what they're capable of and their equipments are all just glass cannons at best. We're just keep blasting them and they'll all be smithereens in no time!"

Anderson was about to counter Scott's argument when he suddenly received another transmission coming from their division base camp. The tank commander frowned when he heard the contents of the new transmission; it was a warning from the base that a new wave of hostiles was now approaching their current location.

"Everyone gear up! Orbital scans just detected a new wave of hostiles approaching towards us. The scans also showed that it seemed those Nod bastards had just busted out some new toys in their arsenal."

"Another never before encountered Nod weapon? After those stunts with the Nukes and anti-nuking energy fields, what else can those bastards surprise us with?" a Viking pilot wondered.

"It doesn't matter anyway, we're just blow them up into smithereens like always!" Scott scoffed.

"Look out boys, they're close... incoming from 3 o' clock!" Anderson warned.

The Delta Squadron 2nd Division strike force immediately tensed up as they prepared for another upcoming skirmish against the Brotherhood of Nod. One of the Siege Tank pilots looked into his tank's rangefinder to visually confirm the enemy presence. What he found, however, was something unexpected.

"What the... what the hell are those things?"

"Err... sir... I think there's something big over there..." a Marine corporal stuttered, pointing at the strike force's 3 o' clock direction; the very direction where the enemy's approaching from. The entire strike force gazed at that direction and just as the Marine corporal stated, they did see something emerging out from a nearby forest, which was still about a mile away from them. The fact that they could visualise the enemy clearly despite the distance clearly indicated that the approaching Nod unit was something massive.

"Damn that thing's huge!" Anderson exclaimed.

"Sir... I don't think it's alone..." the same corporal pointed out.

Indeed, at a closer look, Anderson's strike force could see that there was not just one of those massive walker-like thing approaching towards them, but three of them. Unlike most Terran-built combat walkers they had seen before, these approaching walkers were tall but thin and fully humanoid in shape. Instead of having weapon systems attached to the shoulders, these walkers appeared to have human-like arms, complete with three finger-like digits in which one of them was fixed in opposite direction like a thumb. All three walkers did not seem to have any cockpits; instead, they had large single red optics, looking more like gigantic combat droids rather than piloted walking vehicles.

"Those walkers are from the Nod side, lieutenant!" the earlier Siege Tank pilot confirmed, after making clear of Nod symbols painted on both shoulders through his Siege Tank's rangefinder.

"Damn it! Here they come again. All tanks, let's prepare to blast those walking tin cans back into the stone age. Transform into siege mode now and pick your target!" Anderson commanded. Upon the Siege Tank commander's order, all the six Crucio-class Siege Tanks present quickly transformed their tanks from tank mode into siege mode, deploying stabilising servo stands and transforming their turrets from twin 90mm cannons into a single 180mm shock cannon. After their brief transformation, the 2nd Division could see that the enemy trio of walkers were still maintaining their approach, steadily and slowly. That was quite a surprise to the team as they had expected all Nod units to be fast, but those walkers appeared to be one of the slowest Nod war machines they had ever witnessed.

"They are getting into siege range!" a Siege Tank gunner exclaimed, fingers poised to press the firing trigger.

"It's now or never, all tanks pound em' flat!"

"Goo-d night now!"

Upon the firing order, all the Crucio Siege Tanks of Delta Squadron 2nd Division under the command of Lieutenant Craig Anderson immediately opened fire with their 180mm shock cannon, raining enemy positions with a barrage of superheated tungsten. Explosive blasts seemingly flooded over the approaching enemy walkers, which was followed by thick heavy smoke lingering after the explosions of superheated tungsten shells.

"Check your rangefinder, Danny, see if they're scrapped." Anderson ordered.

"Can do!" Danny, one of the other Siege Tank pilots in the team looked into his rangefinder to confirm through the thick smoke ahead whether their earlier barrage had taken out the enemy units. Usually, there should be nothing left standing after a barrage of 180mm shock cannon superheated tungsten shells fired by six Crucio Siege Tanks. However, to the horror of Danny, there were towering moving silhouettes still sighted within the smoke. "What's that? All hostiles' confirmed still active!"

"What?" Anderson was shocked with the find. Then, as if on cue, the smoke cleared, revealing that all three enemy walkers were still walking. Though they seemed to have sustained some visible damage on their armour, none of them seemed to be crippling hence all three Nod walkers were still operational.

"Impossible! They should be smithereens by now!" Scott gasped in disbelief.

"Target sighted!"

While the Anderson's units were still recovering from their deep shock, the three Nod walkers took action. The lead walker in the middle raised its right arm and opened up its palm, revealing the projector of its Obelisk laser cannon installed within its right palm. A glowing red light steadily illuminated brighter and brighter within the projector, before unleashing a beam of red laser cannon towards one of the Siege Tanks. Seconds later, the other two walkers on the lead walker's flanks followed suit, firing off their laser cannons upon the same Siege Tank. This time, the barrage shot through the armoured hull of the hit Siege Tank and detonated its stockpile of ammunition shells, resulting in the complete obliteration of that Siege Tank in a fiery explosion.

"No way! They took out Sam!" Danny gasped, stunned by the sudden loss of a good friend.

"Damn it! Everyone, concentrate all fire onto those three things! Give them our best shot!"

Under Anderson's orders, the remaining five deployed Crucio Siege Tanks fired another barrage of tungsten rounds upon the Nod walkers. Once again explosive rounds peppered upon the opposing towering humanoid war machines. However, when facing these enemies up this close, the Delta Squadron combatants could see clearly how their rounds fared against the enemy walkers, which sadly were not as well as they imagined.

"Damn!" Anderson cursed, witnessing how heavily armoured those walkers were when he saw one of the walkers receiving a blast of siege fire right into its chest, only to just flinch for a few seconds before shrugging it off as if it was just a minor scratch and resume its advance, a testament of its toughness.

"They're still moving? I thought all those Nod bastards' vehicles are supposed to be as fragile as glass!"Scott could not believe that the Siege Tanks had still not taken down a single Nod walker after two barrages of siege fire.

"Well, it seemed that not all of them are." Anderson remarked, "Alright guys, looks like we need even more firepower to put those walking freaks down. Everyone, pound em' flat! Let's see how much punishment can those things take from everyone of us!"

"Let's do this!" the Marines responded.

"Frag 'em!" Marauder Sergeant Scott agreed.

"Fortune favours the bold!" the three Viking pilots brandished out their gatling guns of their walkers.

"Engaging!" the single Goliath pilot readied for combat.

"Got em' in my sights!" the remaining Siege Tank pilots were preparing for a third siege barrage.

The Marines, Marauders, Vikings and Goliath quickly closed in and opened fire at the approaching enemy walker trio. However, despite the heavy barrage of gauss rifle, autocannon and gatling gun rounds, the enemy walkers did not seem to be affected by the hail of Terran gunfire. Even the concussion grenades fired by the Marauders, which were usually effective in slowing down enemy advance, did not seem to slow down the advancing Nod walkers.

"Annihilate!"

While the Anderson's strike force foot soldiers and combat walkers were trying to halt the enemy walkers' advance and covering the more important Siege Tanks, the Nod walkers opened fire with their laser cannons again, striking down a second Siege Tank.

"We've lost another tank! Damn it! Are your next round loaded or not? We have to shoot them or they'll pick us apart!"

"All loaded sir!"

"Then give them our best shot! Drop the hammer, now!" Anderson commanded.

In an instance, the remaining four deployed Siege Tanks opened fire once more with their 180mm shock cannon, pounding the trio of Nod walkers hard. This time, the superheated tungsten shells seemed to have great effects against the heavily chipped thick armour of the towering mechanical titans, blowing off chunks of metal from their massive foes. The walker in the middle of the trio seemed to have taken a fatal blow, when a shell blasted through the chest port and right into the core of the chest region. The fatally wounded walker gave a loud, deep moan and staggered back and forth for a few steps, before pitching forward and fell face first onto the ground.

"Yeah! We finally got one!" Scott celebrated, followed by a chorus of cheer from the rest of the strike force.

Sadly, the celebration would be cut short, as the other two Nod walkers fired their laser cannons again, taking out a third Siege Tank. At the same time, their advance did not slow down, walking closer and closer towards the Delta Squadron 2nd Division formation. Eventually they reached a point where they were just a few steps away from the strike force frontline.

"Crap! They're too close to our guys! We can't fire another round without blasting our boys along with them!" Anderson realised, quickly ordering the Siege Tanks to hold their fire. They really should have pleaded harder to their commanders to buy those 'smart shells' developed by LarsCorp for their division's Siege Tanks.

"TACCOM locked!" the lone Goliath pilot tried to stand its ground and block the enemies' way with its own body, while constantly raining autocannon shells upon the closest Nod walker. The Marines, Marauders and the three Vikings in the frontline formation also stood their ground and tried to suppress the enemies with their near endless barrage of gunfire, hoping to prevent the enemy walkers from getting too close and out of the minimum siege range. All of them were aware that none of their weapons were very effective against their enemies, with the exception of superheated tungsten shells lobbed by the Crucio Siege Tank's 180mm shock cannons. The Siege Tanks were their only effective counters against the Nod walkers, and it would be disastrous to the strike force if their foes took all of them out.

The two Nod walkers were resuming their advance when they lowered their heads to find the enemy Terran grunt infantries and light combat walkers had tried to use their own body to form a line of barrier, obstructing their way towards the enemy Siege Tank formation at the back. The eerie red glowing optic of the lead walker stared straight into the cockpit of an enemy Viking that was standing and shooting just a footstep right in front of it.

One of the Viking pilot gulped in anxiety as the large single optic of the leading Nod walker stared intensively right into his eyes. Beads of cold sweat were flowing freely along his head and neck, as the Viking pilot found himself gripped in fear looking right into the 'eye' of a gigantic mechanical monster that had the capability to kill him anytime. As the Viking pilot stared deeper into his opponent's optic, somehow he found himself in an unexplained state of hopelessness, as if no matter what they did they would not going to win this confrontation. It was this state of hopelessness that made the Viking to lose his awareness of his surrounding as his eyes were still staring blankly into his enemy's. His fingers were still pressed firmly to the gatling cannon triggers, and his walker remained still. He was still blindly shooting at the enemy walker with gatling cannons in vain, not aware that his foe had just broken eye contact and raised a foot without warning. Before he could react to the sudden change, the enemy had placed that foot down just right on top of him.

"Clear a path..."

CRRRAAASSSHHH!

In an instant, that Viking was crushed directly underneath the leading Avatar's massive foot. The once versatile walker/fighter mechanical hybrid of the Dominion arsenal was now nothing more but a heap of squashed metal. Its pilot did not stand a chance.

"W… wh… wh… what…"

Before the Marines could contemplate what had just happened, a foot from the second Avatar had stepped right into the middle of the Marine and Marauder formation. The results, a heap of blood, body parts and broken parts while the few lucky survivors were thrown off from the shockwave of the massively heavy footstep.

"Did that thing just stepped onto a Viking?" Scott gasped.

"Not just a Viking, the other one just squished five of our boys like an ultra squishing carrion wasps!" Danny pointed out.

"Drat! I need all you idiots to spread out!" Anderson barked out to his squadron mates. To the lead tank commander of this strike force, it was now apparent that they were foolish to let the frontline boys to physically block the enemy heavy walkers' advance, when it was apparent that the enemy could have easily stepped and squashed them like squishing an annoying bug under their boots. Besides, with the frontline boys at such close proximity with the hostiles, any siege fire would have splashed their own guys into smithereens besides the enemy. "I say spread out, you morons, we can't get a clear shot!"

"Go, go, go!" the frontline formation of Marines, Marauders, two Vikings and a Goliath tried to scatter and increase the gap between themselves and the big massive Nod walkers that were engaging them. However, before they could get to a safe distance, one of the Nod walkers knelt down and swept its long slender yet powerful arm across its front in the form of a backhand, sending two Marauders a couple of Marines flying. The other walker extended its right arm and its hand grabbed hold onto one of the Goliath's shoulder-mounted Hellfire missile launcher as the aging Dominion combat walker tried to get out of its way in vain. Then, in a show of strength, the massive Nod walker lifted the Goliath fully off its feet, showing the significant difference between the power of the two walkers.

"Whoa! It picked up David!"

It was such an irony that the 12-foot tall Goliath combat walker was first named because it was thought that the walker could tower over and intimidate enemy field infantries with its size and height, just like the mythological giant from the ancient legends that dated back from old Earth where its name originated from. Yet right now, the supposed Goliath had became the 'David' in this engagement, getting 'manhandled' by an enemy that was even bigger, taller and more powerful than itself. Just like David in the same legend, the smaller combatant valiantly put up a fight despite the size deficit, spraying autocannon rounds at point-blank range onto its larger-sized assailant. Sadly, the outcome would not end like the one stated in the legend.

"I like!"

With a loud roar, the Nod Avatar gripped hard onto the Goliath's cockpit with its once free left hand, while its right hand still having the shoulder-mounted Hellfire missile launcher in a tight grip. Then, without warning, the larger Nod walker made pulled hard with its right hand, brutally ripping the missile launcher pod cleanly out of the Dominion walker's shoulder. At the same time, the metallic digits of its left hand compressed hard, crushing the cockpit of the Goliath despite the neosteel frame and plexishield front. It seemed unlikely that 1st Sergeant David Sousa would have survived.

"It... it just tore a Goliath apart with its bare hands!" a Marine private shouted in fear.

However, what the Avatar did later would bring even more surprise to Anderson's strike force. After ripping off a missile launcher pod from its now crushed enemy, the massive Nod walker dropped the crushed Goliath chassis unceremoniously onto the ground in a loud thud. Then, with the missile pod still in its right hand, the Avatar moved the forcefully detached Hellfire missile launcher pod directly over its left shoulder port. Miraculously, cable ports on the Nod heavy walker's left shoulder began to automatically attached and fixed themselves onto the attachment port of the taken missile pod. After a flash of sparks and a sudden illumination of red LED lights on the left shoulder frame, the newly attached Hellfire missile launcher began to swivel along the axis of the Avatar's left shoulder, as if the missile pod belonged to there at the first place.

"What the hell, did that thing just attached a missile launcher onto its shoulder? Does it think that it can take control of that weapon just like that?" many of the Delta Squadron 2nd Division soldiers found the notion pretty ridiculous.

However, in the midst of their scoffing, Anderson's strike force seemed to have briefly forgotten that they were still locked in combat with two oversized humanoid mechanical walking deaths. Before they could shift their focus back to combat, the two Avatars fired their laser cannons again, taking out a third Siege Tank, leaving three left. Shortly after that, the leading Avatar made another backhand swipe across the ground in front of it, sending another several more broken Marine bodies flying.

"Can't hold them alone!" After witnessing the destruction right in front of their eyes, the remaining two Viking pilots in the group had finally chickened out and completely lost the will to keep on fighting as their self-preservation instincts kicked in, choosing the easy way out to get away from the battle. The pair of armoured mechanical hybrids underwent a series of conformational changes as they transformed from assault mode to fighter mode in an attempt to desert the battle through the sky.

"Cowards! Where the hell did you think you two jockeys are going to! Get back down in an instance!" Anderson yelled at the two retreating Vikings through his communication transmission channel in rage.

Fortunately or unfortunately for Anderson, he would not be having the headache of dealing with the two deserters for long. Before the pair of Vikings could fly away, the Avatar with the newly attached missile launcher fired off a pair of Hellfire AA missiles towards the first fleeing Viking, blasting and downing the Dominion fighter shortly after its completed transformation. The second Avatar reached out with its right arm and grabbed hold of a dangling leg servo of the other Viking before it could even fully take off and complete its transformation. Then, to the horror of the other 2nd Division frontline troops, the second Nod walker pulled down the captured armoured mechanical hybrid and proceeded to twist and tear the walker/fighter hybrid apart with its hands. Just like what its ally did to the Goliath earlier, the massive Nod walker forcefully ripped out a gatling cannon from its victim with its right hand before crushing the cockpit with its left, ending that Viking's service to the Dominion Armed Forces permanently.

"It can't be... they can..."

The second Avatar attached the new acquired gatling cannon onto the port on its left shoulder. With another flash of sparks and sudden illumination of red LED lights on the left shoulder frame, the gatling cannon was firmly attached to the Avatar's left shoulder. Shortly after the gatling cannon was attached, the multi-barrelled weapon swivelled on top of the Avatar's left shoulder, and began to spin, before spewing a hail of hot lead upon the scattered formation of Marines. Against the sudden onslaught of gatling rounds, many Marines were systematically gunned down one by one in seconds.

"Those things can steal our weapon systems? What kind of terrorists can create weapons like that?" Anderson was shocked with the revelation that those already overpowered heavy walkers had turned out to have the capability of making themselves even more powerful by commandeering weapon systems from their foes. Throughout his entire military career serving in the Dominion Armoured Corp, Anderson did come across some very innovative militia forces that had the ingenuity and skills to upgrade their aging weapons and vehicles with all kinds of additional customisable parts and components to make themselves a more effective fighting force that could at least put up a fight against the advanced technology of the Dominion Armed Forces. However, while those militias had to do their customisation before a battle, these Nod walkers could do so in an instant, and all the tools they needed came directly right from their foes. Right now, these Nod walkers had taken the term 'adaptability' to a whole new level.

"I'm not gonna trust the top brass ever again! They said that the Nod bastards are weak in frontal assault... they said that we can easily crush them with our big guns if we fight them up front... but now this..." Scott stated, disheartened by the wrong intelligence provided by his division commander. Now, he and his men were going to pay the price. Just then, in the midst of Scott's self-mumbling, the multi-barrels of the stolen gatling cannon traced towards the Marauder sergeant.

"Oh hell no..."

Before Scott could react, the gatling cannon span its multi-barrels and unleashed an unstoppable hail of lead upon the large-sized Dominion infantry. Despite the protection from the 5-4 Armoured Infantry Suit, Scott was instantly torn apart by gatling fire. The impact multiple gatling rounds pushed the heavy infantry off his feet for a few metres, leaving the once tough and prideful Marauder dying in a pool of blood. His armour had been breached; his body nearly eviscerated; his breathing hallowed. Scott lay helpless as his body was too broken to even move a single muscle. Stim pack function in his suit had malfunctioned, and even if it did work, the side-effects would have instantly killed him. His vocal cord had been shredded by a single round, incapable of even raising his voice, as he silently screamed when the foot of the Nod walker that gunned him down came crushing right on top of him. The next second, Marauder Sergeant Samuel Scott was no more.

* * *

(Meanwhile... in front of Main Broadcast Station...)

The Reaper squad dispatched by Nova Squadron had just finished planting all the charges and had exited out of the building. Before they could detonate the charges, they witnessed the incredible skirmish just a short distance away from their current location, where a strike force belonging to Delta Squadron 2nd Division had engaged with a trio of newly observed massive Nod heavy walker. Needless to say, they were so amazed with the engagement that they had momentarily forgotten their assignment and instead started recording down the battle that they had witnessed. The Reapers knew that with every new sighting of a new Nod weapon or witnessing a new Nod tactical manoeuvre, they must let their commander be aware of these new updates as each of these were all critical intelligence that could potentially help the Dominion to get one step ahead of their enemies.

"Oh man, they're screwed!" one of the Reapers dismissed, showing no concern to their comrades in distress. Typical for a heartless criminal turned ruthless raider.

"Err... don't you think we should give them a little assistance?" another Reaper asked, "After all, those two iron hulks might come after us next."

"And let them screw us all over? Forget it, rookie! If you're confident you have something to put a dent onto one of those things when a Siege Tank couldn't, be my guest! Besides, who in the right mind will want to help those Delta morons? Aren't they're confident that they can take down those Nod bastards by themselves just by taking them head-on? Why don't we give them a chance to prove themselves?" the earlier Reaper replied.

"Yeah right, baby. Let those fools destroy each other, we'll just focus on the mission that commander given to us so that we can get out of this shithole faster." the lead Reaper remarked, "But first, let's record all these down, rookie. The colonel would reward us handsomely with every new enemy intelligence we found."

"Gotcha, chief!"

* * *

(Back to Anderson's strike force...)

"DUUUUUUUUUHHH!"

A hail of gatling cannon rounds chewed up another unfortunate Marine inside out, who like many of his fellow squad mates failed to get out of the Avatar's gatling cannon field of fire. Just minutes since the engagement had begun, the strike force led by Siege Tank commander Lieutenant Craig Anderson had been reduced by more than two-thirds, including three out of six Siege Tanks that had remained after Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10 had been captured by the Dominion joint fleet task force. As for the Nod side, only one out of three Avatars had been taken out despite the severe numerical disadvantage.

With the Avatars wreaking havoc to the Delta Squadron 2nd Division frontlines and threatening to close in right upon the three remaining Siege Tanks, including himself, Lieutenant Anderson finally decided to forget about hesitating to fire just because he would risk hitting his squadron mates who were standing too close to their targets. They had the tools that were currently the most effective in taking out those giant walkers and they would not going to just stay there and do nothing while watching those Nod walkers tearing their squadron apart. They would rather let their squadron mates to die under their cannons rather than dying under the hands of some weird oversized terrorist robot-like contraption.

"To hell with the collaterals, bring down the hammer boys!" Anderson ordered with steel-like determination, shocking the rest of the Siege Tank crew remaining in the strike force.

"But sir, those guys down there would..."

"I say to hell with the collaterals! Bring down the hammer!"

With a heavy heart, the Siege Tanks did just that, firing another siege barrage with their 180mm shock cannons. Just as they had expected, the exploding tungsten rounds struck both the enemies and their own squad mates that were standing too close to the enemy walkers. They bore witness to the deaths of several Marines as a result of friendly fire.

"D... damnnn... I knew those ta... tank bas... stards... can't be... trus..." one of the victims, a Marine that had lost his entire waist down due to friendly fire, muttered in his last words before passing on.

Although there were unfortunate events of friendlies being caught and killed by their barrage, they did manage to achieve at least one profitable result; another one of the enemy walkers, the leading one with the stolen missile launcher on its left shoulder, had sustained so much damage that its engine was unable to circulate enough power to move its heavily compromised body. With smoke and sparks belching through multiple cracks in its armour, the heavily wounded Avatar staggered for a few steps, before kneeling forward and collapsing into a heap like a falling tree.

"Oh yeah! Another one down! One more to go and we're rolling!"

However, their celebration was cut short, as the last Avatar advanced towards the remaining trio of Siege Tanks at full speed. With the frontline 2nd Division troops scattered and their numbers thinned down, there was nothing left standing between that last Avatar and the Siege Tanks in its sight.

"It's coming hot! Blast it!" Anderson yelled frantically.

"It's too late! It's now beyond our minimum siege range. Our targeting computers can't lock on to it!" Danny informed, equally panicking.

"Damn it! Stupid computers! Shouldn't have depended our lives too much on those shit! Transform into tank mode now!" the Siege Tank commander of the group ordered.

The trio of Siege Tanks immediately began to 'pack up their guns' as the turret of each tank transformed from 180mm shock cannon configuration into twin 90mm plasma cannon configuration, the first step of the transition of a Crucio-class Siege Tank from siege mode into tank mode. However, in the middle of the turret transformation, the enemy Avatar fired a shot of Obelisk laser cannon right into the turret, followed by several rounds of gatling fire from its left shoulder. Although the damage was not severe enough to outright destroy the tank, it had heavily damaged the turret to the point that the entire turret had been disabled, when it was still in the middle of its transformation.

"I'm in deep! My turret's jammed!" Danny shouted, revealing the fact that it was his tank that got disabled. Without a functional turret, Danny was now as good as a deadweight in this engagement.

"Damn it! Get out of our way, Danny! We'll take it from here!" Ben, a Siege Tank operator from the third surviving Crucio Siege Tank yelled to his fellow tank operator; his tank already completed its turret transformation and was now undergoing the next step of retracting its stabilising stands and realigning its threads.

Unfortunately for Ben, his time in this battle would also be cut short, though the outcome would be slightly different from Danny's.

The Avatar halted its approach when it found itself fully on top of Ben's tank. Though Ben's Siege Tank had completed its turret transformation, it was still unable to fire a single shot due to a strange design flaw in the tank's firing system. The flaw dictated that a Crucio's guns would be locked up during the entire transformation sequence for safety reason by the tank's autoloader, even though when the crucial turret transformation was already complete. As a result, Ben was unable to defend himself as the massive hands of the Avatar descended upon his still-transforming tank.

"Arrrggghhh! Get it off me!" Ben screamed in fear as the towering walker grabbed hold of the Crucio Siege Tank's entire turret, with one leg servo stomping and holding the tank firm onto the ground. The tank's chassis began to buckle under the heavier war machine's massive weight, while sparks were sparkling profusely from between the attachment point of the tank turret and chassis.

"That thing's gonna rip Ben apart! Do something sir!" Danny shouted in panic, bugging his team leader to quickly rescue their comrade in arms. If his turret was still functional, he would have acted by now.

"Drat! Just a few seconds more..." Anderson calculated, with his tank now undergoing the final step of retracting its stabilising stands after finishing its threads realignment. After this step was done, the tank's autoloader would clear the lock and the twin 90mm plasma cannons would be clear to shoot.

Sadly, Ben did not have those few precious seconds.

Anderson and Danny could only watch in horror as the Nod walker brutally ripped the Ben's Siege Tank turret out from the entire chassis. At the same time, the gatling cannon attached to its left shoulder spin and opened fire right into the exposed joint opening where the turret was originally attached to. The gatling rounds hammered hard into the tank's inside. Combined with the leg servo crushing on top of the chassis, the doomed Crucio Siege Tank finally met its end as a small but powerful explosion occurred inside the tank, spewing out a ball of fire through the exposed joint opening, leaving a burning wreckage. It seemed unlikely Ben would have survived the violent destruction of his tank.

Even though its target destroyed, the lone Avatar was not done with its latest victim yet. Skilfully manipulating the turret in both hands, the towering Nod walker managed to grab hold onto both 90mm plasma cannons before pulling them cleanly off from the rest of the turret, taking care that the twin cannons remained intact. Then, similar to what it did to its previous acquirement of its left shoulder mounted gatling cannon, the Avatar attached the ports of the twin 90mm plasma cannons onto the wrist port of its left hand. With another flash of sparks and illumination of red LED lights along its left arm frame, the newly acquired twin cannons appeared to have firmly attached to the Avatar's left wrist and seemed to be operational once more.

"We're in deep! That thing's getting more and more guns! We have to get out of here sir!" Danny screamed in panic through his intercom. Now with both remaining Siege Tanks finally completed their full transformation from siege mode to tank mode, both tanks were ready to move off.

"Move it!" Anderson confirmed the retreat order.

Before the Avatar could get its hands onto Danny's damaged tank, both Siege Tanks accelerated and drive off at full speed away from the offending walker. While Danny's tank's turret was still jammed and could not fire a single round, Anderson's tank was poised to strike.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Anderson's tank fired several salvos of plasma shells at its larger foe with its twin 90mm cannons. The rounds struck home on the huge target, but failed to deliver any critical damage to the heavily armoured walker. This was expected by the veteran Siege Tank commander, knowing that in tank mode, Siege Tank cannons could only fire significantly smaller rounds though at the advantage of a faster rate of fire and capability to fire on the move, hence delivering a much weaker firepower output compared to shock cannons deployed in siege mode. It would take much more hits to destroy the massive enemy walker in tank mode, but that did not matter to the Siege Tank commander. Their main objective now was to retreat from this skirmish and hopefully slow down the enemy heavy unit's advance with its twin cannons before they could suffer from the same fate as their fallen compatriots.

"Destroy!"

Seemingly dismissive of its enemies' change in tactics, the Avatar resumed its focus on wiping off its two remaining targets' existence. Since both enemy Crucio Siege Tanks were driving off and increasing their distance away from it, the Avatar regained back to its previous upright posture and lifted up its Obelisk laser cannon armed right arm. Its single red optic locked onto the retreating form of one of the Siege Tanks, the one that could still shoot with its cannons, and fired a streak of laser beam with its laser cannon. At the same time, the gatling cannon on its left shoulder had not stopped firing since the beginning of the engagement. It was not done yet; shortly after firing its laser cannon, the Avatar lifted up its left arm, aiming at the retreating tank with its new acquired twin 90mm cannons and fired salvos of plasma rounds.

"I'm in deep!" Anderson shouted in alarm, realising that his tank had been targeted. While the gatling rounds had not dealt any significant damage to the tank's heavy tank armour, the laser cannon had just sliced off a section of the twin cannon barrels while the plasma rounds had also inflicted further damage to the tank's chassis and turret. Although miraculously Anderson's tank could still be able to move despite the heavy damage inflicted, it had lost control of its weapon systems and its full speed had been reduced by half. Now, like its remaining squad mate, Anderson's tank could no longer engage with its Nod foe.

Seeing one of the enemies severely crippled and in its mercy, the Avatar made its approach. To Lieutenant Craig Anderson, it was like watching a giant iron grim reaper slowly coming towards you to harvest your soul, a sense of fear and hopelessness. He had been painstakingly trying to pull down the throttle to force his tank to go faster, but it was useless as his tank had already been moving at its current fastest. The damage sustained to the tank had significantly reduced its overall performance, which had somehow reduced its top speed. Now, the Nod walker could outpace the crippled tank and eventually catch up with it.

Anderson could only watch in despair as the massive Nod walker made its approach, getting ever closer and closer. The veteran tank commander knew that his crippled tank could never escape its pursuit. His tank's weapon system was down, so was his last remaining squad mate's one. Unable to shoot back at his pursuer, Anderson knew which side was the clear victor in this skirmish. The enemy also seemed to realise this as well, as it had stopped firing its weapons and instead opted to give chase with its fleeing opponents, like a predator toying with its prey, feeling the thrill of the hunt before finishing off its victims.

'Damn! Is this it? Is this my end? After serving 20 long years in the line, I knew I'm gonna kick the bucket someday. But I wish to at least die in the arms of a hot Ghost chick assassin, not mangled by some kind of weird giant terrorist robot...'

After spending five minutes of chasing, already away from the area where Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10 once stood, the lone Avatar had almost caught up with Anderson's tank.

"To dust!" With just one step away, the Avatar was about to bend down and pin down the crippled tank with its grappling hands when suddenly, something unexpected had occurred.

"I never thread lightly..." Without warning, Danny's tank accelerated towards the Avatar, which seemed to be unaware of the second Siege Tank's sudden charge. As a result, the heavy bulk of the Dominion heavy tank rammed itself hard onto one of the leg servos of the towering Nod walker like a battering ram. The impact was so strong that the unwary walker was violently jerked forward, nearly losing its foothold if not the other leg had reacted quickly to plant itself firmly onto the ground just in time before the tall heavy war machine could topple over. Not only did the unorthodox caught the Avatar off guard, even Anderson himself did not expect to get a second chance.

"Danny! Whotcha' doing boy?"

"Lieutenant! Get out of here! I'll hold that thing off! You need to get back to base and warn the others! There's no time... oh shi..."

Before Danny could finish his words, his transmission was cut off as the Avatar, having recovered from its initial shock and had fully regained its whole footing, had gotten it right hand onto Danny's tank turret in a firm grasp. Without warning, the vengeful Nod walker lighted up its Obelisk laser cannon on its right palm, which was still touching the Crucio-class Siege Tank in its grip. The result... a blast of Obelisk laser cleanly through the Siege Tank at point blank range, igniting the fuel and stored magazines within the tank, blowing it up completely in a fiery ball of fire.

"Danny!" Anderson screamed in despair, not only because of shock of losing another one of his comrade-in-arms, but also fearing for his own life, knowing that he was now totally alone after the loss of his last remaining squad mate. "Shit! Shit! SHIT! How could this have happened? Those Nod bastards shouldn't be that tough! Where the hell are those Nova freaks when you need them!" the now frustrated Siege Tank commander cursed.

BOOM!

Suddenly, without warning, Anderson's Siege Tank was struck again. The lone tank commander suddenly realised that his tank had completely came to a halt; the result of plasma rounds penetrating and jamming the thread gears. Anderson peered back through the rear view porthole of his tank, only to see his pursuer already lifted its left arm, with a faint amount of smoke flowing out of the barrels of the wrist-mounted twin 90mm cannons.

'Oh hell no! Looks like that thing is finally tired of the cat and mouse game. I must get out of here... damn it, move!' Anderson mentally cursed, trying in vain to move his tank despite the schematic diagram of the tank, shown in the side interface screen, had revealed that both threads and the turret had been critically damaged to beyond functional state, meaning that his tank could no longer be able to move or even fight. Alone and without backup around, there was nothing he could do to stop the enemy from taking him out like it had done to the rest of his team.

"Another one!"

The Avatar lifted its right arm, revealing the glowing orb of red light on its Obelisk laser cannon mounted in its right hand palm. The last sight that Lieutenant Craig Anderson of Delta Squadron 2nd Division Armour Corps saw was a streak of red light shining right into his eyes through his rangefinder.

KA-BOOMMM!

The streak of laser penetrated through the tank and struck the stored ammunition inside the Crucio Siege Tank fuselage, resulting in a fiery explosion that completely tore the tank from the inside out, leaving no survivors.

"They're done..." the Avatar announced, confirming its latest kill. With all threats in front of it neutralised, the mighty Nod combat walker lowered its both arms.

Just then, heavy footsteps could be heard and felt, coming from behind the Avatar. The towering black and red walker glanced back, to find two more Nod Avatars joining the fray. Surprisingly, one of them sported a Hellfire AA-missile pod on its left shoulder. Both the two newly arrived Avatars appeared to be heavily combat-scarred, but still remained operational and ready for combat. The three Avatars nodded as they greeted one another, before heading out towards the nearest Dominion base together.

"Forward!"

* * *

(Meanwhile... outside Main Broadcast Station...)

"Alright, all charges are set. Let's get going boys." the lead Reaper called out.

"I'm going! I'm going!"

The Reaper team despatched by the Nova Squadron had done setting all the D8 and G4 explosive charges around the Main Broadcast Station. Now they were focused on leaving this area.

Just at the right moment, a G-226 Medivac Dropship, bearing the insignia of the Nova Squadron, arrived the scene.

"Strap in boys, and better hurry up. Newest intel stated that this sky's about to be filled with Nod fighters. We have to head back to HQ before those fighters cut us off." the Medivac pilot informed.

"You heard the lady, let's get going!" the lead Reaper also told his team to hurry up, well aware that none of them in this group had any capability to defend themselves from a swarm of angry Nod fighter pilots. After watching what these fighters were capable of during the earlier space battle, none of them wanted to find themselves surrounded by dozens of speedy, deadly rocket-armed multi-role VTOL fighter.

In less than a minute, the entire team of half a dozen Reapers had all loaded themselves up into the Medivac passenger bay. After the last Reaper boarded, the Medivac quickly closed its hatch and slowly began to take off towards the orbit. Before the hatch was fully closed though, the lead Reaper decided to end the mission with a bang.

"Here comes the pain!"

With a click of his remote detonator, the lead Reaper detonated all the set demolition charges that he and his team had placed earlier inside that massive broadcast station. The results; a series of deafening, fiery explosions that ripped apart the huge civilian structure at multiple critical points. The charges worked well in demolishing the entire structure, causing it to collapse immediately into a pile of rubble.

The site deemed holy ground by the late Black Hand officer Archdeacon Ricardo; a site where Kane used to hold and broadcast his debut public speech across Koprulu Sector shortly after Mar Sara Insurrection... was no more.

It was a successful mission for the Reaper Team RCT-N077.

* * *

(Undisclosed location... Nod Bhekar Ro Base 2... Construction Yard command chamber...)

"COMMANDER, WE'VE JUST LOST THE MAIN BROADCAST STATION. ALL UNITS IN BASE 10 HAVE BEEN LOST TO THE ENEMY FORCES." LEGION announced.

"I see..." the Commander nodded solemnly. This would be a huge taint in his military career since Kane did give him the order to keep the broadcast station standing at the end of this battle. He had failed the messiah, and this was a big failure. As a member of the Inner Circle, the Commander was well aware that the great prophet disliked failures, regardless of who you are or your ranking within the Brotherhood of Nod. "I will personally inform Kane about the loss of the broadcast station later, but first, we still have some vermin left to crush. Through their deaths shall we avenge all our fallen brothers who had fought valiantly against the tyrant forces till the bitter end. We'll not let the blood of our brothers flow for nought... LEGION, order all units to destroy all remaining Dominion Battlecruisers that had escaped our nuclear strikes before they can escape."

"ACKNOWLEDGED, COMMANDER..."

* * *

(About 30 miles north of Nod Bhekar Ro Base 10 remains... Dominion Armed Forces Delta Squadron Bhekar Ro Forward Base 2...)

Forward Base no.2 was one of the largest Delta Squadron base camp set for this joint fleet task force in this mission to recapture Bhekar Ro from the clutches of the Brotherhood of Nod. Set up by Delta Squadron 2nd Division, the main objective of this base was to provide a resources and function as a staging area for the 2nd Division to attack and destroy the nearest Nod base, where the galactic main broadcast station of this planet stood. However, although the base was massive in area, the insides were of a different story.

Resources were running dry for the 2nd Division, as all harvestable minerals and vespene gas in had been completely depleted a few moments ago. In fact, this base had found little resources for the SCVs to collect with when the base was first constructed. If not due to the fact that this was the only site with harvestable resources within 30 mile radius of the outskirt of their primary objective site, they would have already picked a different spot to set up camp.

With limited resources, Major Roland Lee had decided to dedicate all resources for offense rather than defence. Since his base had been completed, Major Lee had ordered waves and waves of his troops to take down the nearest Nod base in a desperate gamble to end its existence before his forces run out of steam. His only line of defence for his base was the last remaining pair of Battlecruisers cruising the sky above his base: _Minos _and _Cretan Bull_.

He had a third Battlecruiser, _Manticore_, but it was unexpectedly destroyed by tough Nod defences when the 2nd Division commander thought that the might of a Minotaur-class Battlecruiser was enough to bring the terrorists down to their knees. When those Nod 'laser obelisks' cut the mighty capital ship down into smaller sections from the sky, Roland did not want to risk losing anymore ships under his command.

When news of the loss of almost the entire Delta Squadron fleet to a sudden nuclear ambush reached Roland's ears, the major knew immediately that this battle was a lost cause. Without Battlecruiser support or reinforcements stationed in the orbit, there was no way his limited forces could take out all the local Nod presence in the area.

While Major Lee had no qualms of retreating from a battle that seemed impossible to win, the commander of the Delta Squadron 2nd Division had issues of leaving a fight without accomplishing anything during the battle. If he had to pull out his forces from this battle, he reminded himself to at least destroy one terrorist base before leaving. His target: the closest Nod base 30 miles away which he was initially tasked to destroy.

Hence when Lieutenant Craig Anderson made a report half an hour earlier that the enemy base had finally been overtaken, though with small assistance from the Nova Squadron, the major was happy that he had at least accomplished an achievement of taking down one enemy base before pulling his forces out. Now he would not leave any shame of leaving a lost battle without inflicting some significant losses to the enemy.

Unfortunately, Roland would suddenly find himself in a very sticky situation. It all started when he suddenly lost contact with Lieutenant Anderson's forces, who were supposed to be still patrolling around the ruined Nod base to eliminate any survivors. Before the entire strike force went dark, his adjutant received multiple distress calls before turning static, a clear indication that something had gone terribly wrong. These distress calls varied from this...

_"Impossible! They should be smithereens by now!"_

To this...

"_Did that thing just stepped onto a Viking?"_

And this...

_"Arrrggghhh! Get it off me!"_

And finally this...

_"Lieutenant! Get out of here! I'll hold that thing off! You need to get back to base and warn the others! There's no time... oh shi..."_

Based from what he had heard from the distress calls, the experienced major instantly knew that Lieutenant Anderson's strike force had encountered another enemy attack, and this time the enemy had definitely triumphed. What he could not understand was how did his men meet their end. From the hours he had spent observing the enemy's actions since this battle had begun, Roland knew that the main tactics employed by the terrorists of Brotherhood of Nod were stealthy, lightning-fast ambush in order to catch their victims off guard and finish them off with a sudden barrage of overwhelming firepower before their victims could counterattack. If this was the case, he would have expected to hear some sudden cut in transmission and probably loud explosions before the team went dark, with little or no distress calls being sent in time. This time, however, it was obvious that his team had been battling the same foes for an extended amount of time and they seemed to have lost, overwhelmed by something powerful, something that could withstand tremendous amount of punishment, and something that was strong enough to easily crush objects as big as a Crucio-class Siege Tank.

This was a baffling puzzle for Major Lee. Whatever thing or things that had vanquished Lieutenant Anderson's team, they had to be some kind of massive, heavily-built object similar to a Thor heavy assault walker or a Zerg Ultralisk, but Roland found it difficult to associate them with the swift and light tools that the Nod terrorists had favoured.

'Could there be a third enemy faction out there?' the 2nd Division commander wondered, thinking that this was the most logical explanation available.

Sadly, before Roland could make any final conclusion to the mystery, his thoughts were cut short by a sudden blaring of the base sirens.

"_Siren... _WARNING! LARGE NUMBERS OF ENEMY FIGHTER-CLASS AIR UNITS APPROACHING BASE FROM EAST, SOUTH AND WEST. ENEMY AIRSTRIKE IMMINENT... ETA 1 MINUTE!" the base adjutant warned.

Roland immediately the minimap of his battlefield command and control panel, augmented by advanced sensors of his Orbital Command and early warning detection system by a few Sensor Towers scattered across his base. To his shock, he saw multiple red blips appearing in the scanner screen, numbering at more than a hundred units, approaching and surrounding his base from multiple directions.

"What the... how the hell did those bastards retain this many fighters? I thought we had taken out a bulk of them during the space battle?" Roland cursed. As he had been focusing on sending waves and waves of his troops to attack the nearest enemy base, the commander of Delta Squadron 2nd Division had neglected in reinforcing the defences inside his base, feeling that his two Battlecruisers were enough to do the job so that he could dedicate the limited amount of available resources in offensive operations. After sending unending waves of his troops to pressurise the Nod defences, Roland now had very few resources and time left to muster what had left of his division for defence against massive airstrikes like these. In fact, Lieutenant Anderson's strike force had been one of the last wave of units he could pull off and send to crush the enemy defences before the resource stockpile in his base completely run dry.

"_Siren..._ WARNING! ENEMY FORCES SIGHTED..."

"Oh hell no! Adjutant, inform the captains of the ships _Minos _and _Cretan Bull_ to engage the enemy fighters! I want the sky clear of those pests, PERMANENTLY!" the 2nd Division commander bellowed in frenzy.

* * *

(Back outside... sky above Forward Base 2...)

Under the darkening twilight sky in Bhekar Ro, sirens could be heard blaring across Delta Squadron Forward Base no. 2, with beams of high-powered searchlights flashing across the sky from the ground and from the pair of Minotaur-class Battlecruisers cruising above the base. With warning of an imminent enemy large-scale airstrike, the few remaining troops of Delta Squadron 2nd Division prepared for the worst.

Soon enough, silhouettes of multiple tiny aerial object could be seen converging towards the base from almost all directions. These silhouettes were barely visible under the twilight sky, but many Marines stationing outside could see the faint red lights illuminating on the silhouette forms. For some of the smarter Marines with good memory, they instantly recognised the forms of these specks in the twilight sky as those pesky Nod single-seated scout fighters, which they had witnessed shooting down many of their Dropships during atmospheric entry in the early phase of this battle on Bhekar Ro. In huge quantities, these fighters were also known to be capable of overwhelming and downing any combat aircrafts and ships, including entire Battlecruisers.

"Holy sh... there's too many of them!"

The defenders of Forward Base 2 looked up in the sky in despair, knowing well that they were heavily outnumbered this time. Their base did not have a lot of defensive structures erected, and the number of troops stationed to defend the base were already too few to begin with, and even fewer units that were capable of defending the base from aerial threats. When this area had been captured and the base being set up, Major Roland Lee had expected that the joint fleet task force should have established air superiority across this planet by that time, and theorised that the main threat to the base security were from the ground or underground. However, since Major Lee's main objective was to eliminate the nearest Nod base in the area with few limited resources available, the 2nd Division commander decided to invest all his resources in building up and sending waves and waves of units in an attempt and rush and overpower the enemy before they could react and counterattack. The battleplan cost the lives of hundreds of brave Dominion soldiers, but Roland did eventually succeed in levelling down the base, albeit with a little assistance from a team of Nova Squadron soldiers that had managed to infiltrate deep into the base and do some major damage to the base from the inside-out. Since offensive tactics had been favoured instead of defensive tactics, Roland did not build a lot of structures or units to defend this base. Although he did deploy some troops and defence structures for base defence, these were mainly suited in combating threats on the ground such as enemy infantry waves or tank rushes. They were not deployed with air defence in Roland's mind, as the 2nd Division commander felt that there was no need to. Now it seemed that Major Roland Lee had made a grave mistake of assuming that his enemy no longer had aerial supremacy on this planet.

As the swarm of Nod fighters closed in towards their quarry, streaks of laser bolts were fired towards the Nod Venom swarm in heavy barrages. The Battlecruiser _Minos _and _Cretan Bull _ had quickly reacted to the airstrike and were putting their all to repel or eliminate the hundreds of aerial threats flying above and towards their base. These two Battlecruisers were the main defence units tasked to guard and protect Forward Base 2, and now they were also the best chance that the Delta Squadron 2nd Division had to combat this massive scale airstrike.

Some of the Venoms at the front of the Nod flight formation did not react in time and ended up being shredded apart by the barrage of laser fire, though most managed to manoeuvre and dodge the heavy barrage thanks to the Nod fighter's superior speed and manoeuvrability performance in the sky. As the surviving Venoms swerved and dodged the laser barrage, they strike back with volleys of Tiberium-core Stinger rockets. The barrage of rockets sailed through the twilight sky and easily hit their massive targets, detonating and blasting the thick neosteel hull of the Dominion capital ships.

The struggle of the Delta Squadron's Battlecruisers, _Minos _and _Cretan Bull _had begun...

* * *

(Meanwhile... 10 miles away north of Delta Squadron Forward Base 2...)

On top of a hill about 10 miles away of Delta Squadron Forward Base no. 2, a large Nod forces was approaching the besieged Dominion base.

While the defenders of Forward Base 2 were distracted and busy defending the base and themselves from the large-scale Venom airstrike, none of them were aware that a large number of Nod combat vehicles were making their approach towards their base, with the aims to wipe out their very existence.

An Avatar made a temporary stop at the summit of the hill overlooking Forward Base 2, while the rest of the armour column resumed their march. The single red optic of the Avatar gazed ominously at the entirety of the enemy base at the distance, as well as the pair of Battlecruisers battling in the sky above the base, as if it was gauging its next prey.

"Target sighted!"

* * *

**PREVIEW**

Next Act: Battle for Bhekar Ro: Clean-up

With the destruction of Bhekar Ro Orbital Platform, a large proportion of the Delta Squadron and Nova Squadron Joint Fleet Taskforce had been lost. As the Nod counterattack began, the Battle of Bhekar is about to reach its end. Will the remnants of the broken taskforce escape the wrath of Kane and his Brotherhood?

* * *

Nod Unit Profile: Avatar

Role: Multi-purpose heavy assault walker

Armament: Variable (Default: Obelisk laser cannon installed in right palm, Grappling claws on both hands, Multi-purpose adaptable ports on left wrist, chest, head, left shoulder and right shoulder)

Appearance: Similar in shape and appearance of TW3 Avatar but with two 'hands' and the default laser cannon installed on the palm of right hand. Size is about 10-storey high, around the same size of Tib Twilight Avatar. Head design is similar to that of Tib Twilight Avatar with triangular shape as well as a large single red optic. Ports can be seen on side of left side of head, shoulders, chest and left wrist, where various weapon systems and upgrades will be attached to.

Throughout the history of Brotherhood of Nod's confrontations against their enemies, regardless whether they are GDI, rogue Nod factions, Scrin or Terran Dominion, the Brotherhood often preferred asymmetrical warfare against their foes, employing unconventional tactics such as ambush, hit-and-run, espionage and cyber-warfare. Despite their vast arsenal of advanced technology and weaponry, the Brotherhood's foes were often better armed and armoured, hence making direct frontal engagements often ill-advised by every Nod military instructors. However, in the event that a direct frontal confrontation is inevitable, the Brotherhood of Nod would not hesitate to bust out a secret trump card that is capable of engaging their foes head-on and winning unlike most other Nod units. The trump card: the Avatar Warmech.

The brainchild of decades of research and reverse-engineering of discarded GDI walker technology after the end of Second Tiberium Wars, the Avatar line of combat walkers is the first ever 'heavy' unit fielded by the Brotherhood of Nod that is capable of standing toe-to-toe to any GDI combat vehicles head-on in a conventional frontal assault, including the notorious armoured beast known as the GDI Mammoth Tanks. Unlike other Nod vehicles, which are mainly built for speed and firepower with heavy sacrifice of size and armour, the Avatar is a large, heavily armed and armoured bipedal walker that is designed with firepower, durability and versatility in mind. Though significantly slower than other Nod vehicles due to its size, the Avatar has no need for speed as it is a unique Nod unit designed to engage its enemies directly upfront. Since its introduction during the Third Tiberium Wars, this line of towering steel titan has struck fear to the hearts of countless GDI soldiers, as well as serving as a grim reminder to the GDI that they are no longer the sole faction that has armour superiority.

Since the arrival of Terrans onto the Koprulu Sector, after the Brotherhood's ascension, the Inner Council knew that it would be necessary to include a new Avatar model in their growing Nod Armed Forces to counter the Terran threat. The question was which version would the new Avatar design be based on. The Inner Circle reviewed all the predecessor models that had served during past Tiberium Wars on Earth, which included the predecessor 'Purifier' model, the Mk. 1 Avatar and the Mk. 2 AW-30 'Avatar'. In the end, it was decided that the newest Mk. 3 Avatar would be designed with the adaptability of the Third Tiberium Wars Mk. 1 Avatar as the main reference. The Mk. 2 AW-30 was deemed to be "over-specialised" and not suited to the role of Nod's only frontline heavy combat unit. The new Mk. 3 Avatar is a 10-storey tall heavily armoured humanoid-shaped bipedal walker with similar shape as its predecessors. Like the Mk. 1 Avatar which its design is heavily based on, the Mk. 3 is armed with a single powerful Obelisk laser cannon installed on its right arm by default, capable of heavily damaging or even destroying heavy armour from long distance in both air and ground. At close range, the massive size of the Mk. 3 Avatar means that the huge walker is more than capable of crushing smaller foes under its heavy legs, in which even Crucio-class Siege Tanks can be flattened instantly by an Avatar's footstep. Even if the victims manage to evade the heavy footsteps, they will still have to beware with the Avatar powerful pair of arms, which can swipe, grab or crush any unlucky foes within its reach. The Avatar's most unique ability, however, is its ability to adapt in the midst of the battle itself by upgrading through commandeering technology, ripping off weapon systems and accessories from other vehicles and attaching ripped off parts onto itself through the multiple ports on its body. Through the years of perfecting this technology, the Avatars are now even capable of ripping parts off from defence structures such as Viper turrets and SAM Sites and use these parts to upgrade themselves (See Avatar's Commandeer Technology).

While the new Mk. 3 Avatars appear to be an invincible fighting machine, designers have noted that like its predecessors, the newest Avatar model has a potential Achilles' heel in the form of its legs. Although the legs have been heavily reinforced in order to support the walker's massive weight, any significant damage dealt to the legs, for example a well-placed high-explosive charge, can cause the advanced walker to lose its balance and topple onto the ground. Fortunately, due to its durability, a disabled Avatar can still leave a husk in the battlefield, ready to be reactivated by Saboteurs if they can reach it in time before an enemy destroys it permanently. In order to improve the chances of Avatar husk reactivation, the Enlightened Cult of Scientific Research have recently released a new backup program upgrade in the Avatar system, which contains programmed instructions for an array of nanomachines installed within the Avatar body to undergo gradual repair of the husk until it is fully repaired. Once fully repaired, the program automatically establish reconnection of the repaired Avatar to the neural control pod, reactivating the Avatar.

The Avatars are maintained and controlled in its own unique military branch, known as the Shrine of the Avatars. Specially-trained engineers are tasked to repair and maintain these mighty war machines. The heart of the Shrine of the Avatars, however, is a team of specially-trained neural pilots who are tasked in piloting the majestic walkers themselves. Unlike most piloted vehicles, Avatars are not controlled directly by their pilots inside the machines. Instead, the pilots are housed safely within classified underground compounds where they remotely control their war machines through a direct neural link inside a specially designed remote control pod, similar to the Mk. 2 AW-30 Avatar of the Ascension Conflicts. In this way, it earns its namesake as it becomes a remote controlled body for the neural pilot, which the pilot can command the walker to perform actions as fluid as if like he is inside his own body. If an Avatar is to be lost during a battle, the remote control system of the war machine means that the pilot will be still perfectly safe inside his remote control pod, far away from the actual site of conflict itself. However, as neural-linked remote control process requires a specific set of compatible brainwaves to control an Avatar warmech, selection process for Avatar neural pilot is extremely strict with a much higher dropout rate compared to other Nod branches, as incompatible brainwaves may sometimes result in potentially fatal neural feedback that can destroy brain cells of cadets. Due to the strict selection of neural pilots, Avatar numbers are not as numerous compared to other less durable Nod units, hence commanding these powerful war machines are usually reserved for the more senior Nod commanders.

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Avatar's Commandeer Technology

One of the Mk. 3 Avatar's unique trait is its ability to upgrade itself in the midst of a battle by ripping off weapons or accessory parts from other vehicles and defence structures, installing them by attaching them through multiple ports on the Avatar's body. This ability is available as soon as the Avatar exits out of the War Factory. As long as the Avatar is able to come to a close proximity to its target, it can use its grasping arms to grab hold of its target and tear off the part that it wants to use. This action will always instantly destroys its target, regardless of how fresh the targeted vehicle is.

By default, the Avatar's ports are only compatible to Nod systems, hence an Avatar can only upgrade itself by sacrificing and ripping off from Nod vehicles. This means at an Avatar usually starts its first upgrades by commandeering technology off from friendly Nod vehicles. Due to this trend, LEGION and some of the senior commanders of the Nod Sect of Engineering are concerned that Avatar pilots may unnecessarily scrap large numbers of perfectly functional Nod vehicles for their own self preservation, a concern that had once forced the scrapping of Mk. 1 Avatar and creation of AW-30 before the Ascension Conflicts. Thankfully, the implementation of neural remote control system means that Avatar pilots do not need to fear injury or death with the destruction of their machines, hence the thought of self preservation is never inside the minds of Avatar pilots. Also, many pilots and commanders have also observed that Avatars can lose speed and agility the more upgrades they put on, prompting most Avatar pilots to prefer not performing upgrades in the battle unless being commanded by their superiors to do so. This trend, however, soon changes when the Enlightened Cult of Scientific Research released the Tacitus decryption program software upgrades, available through Tech Labs. This upgrade enables Avatar systems to synchronise with technology of other factions, including xeno technology such as Protoss and Scrin. This allows Avatars to rip off weapons and accessories from non-Nod vehicles and structures, attaching these non-Nod parts to their ports and use them. With this upgrade available, Avatar pilots begin to enjoy crushing and tearing off enemy vehicle parts and use the enemy parts to upgrade themselves, causing terror to enemy mechanised divisions.

The list of available upgrades that the Avatar can use is shown below. Note that each port upgrade is irreversible and only one part can be attached to each port for each Avatar.

**Port: **Weapon/Accessory (Source)

**Head: **Advanced Sensor (Attack Bike, Seeker, Sensor Tower)

**Chest: **Stealth Generator (Stealth Tank, Chameleon, Nod Harvester, Disruption Tower); Heavy Armour Plating (Reckoner, Armoured Personnel Carrier, Bunker); Guardian Shield (Sentry); Self-repair Nodule (Slave, SCV); Ion Storm Destruction Bomb (Scrin Harvester); Buzzer Hive (Buzzer Hive)

**Left Shoulder: **Machine Gun/Gatling Gun (Raider, Auto-Turret, Viking); AA Missile Launcher (SAM Site, Missile Turret, Goliath); Haywire Missile Launcher (Warhound); Sentinel Missile Launcher (Widow Mine); Photon Cannon (Photon Cannon, Dragoon); Particle Disruptor (Stalker); Plasma Cannon (Gun Walker, Mechapede); Plasma Disc Launcher (Plasma Disc Battery, Mechapede); Plasma Missile Launcher (Plasma Missile Battery); Tiberium Shard Launcher (Shard Walker, Mechapede)

**Right Shoulder: **Flamethrower (Flame Tank, Flame Column, Hellion/Hellbat, Perdition Turret); Liquid Tiberium Sprayer (Corruptor; Mechapede)

**Left Wrist: **Laser Cannon (Scorpion Tank, Viper Laser Cannon); Fragmentation Grenade Launcher (Vulture); Railgun Capacitor (Diamondback); Twin 90mm Cannon (Siege Tank); Phase Disruptor (Immortal); Scarab Launcher (Reaver); Proton Cannon (Devourer Tank); Plasma Cutter (Mechapede)

As powerful as this technology sounds, there are some restrictions in this technology, mainly some parts that Mk. 3 Avatars are unable to tear off and upgrade themselves with. Any other large massive mechanised units such as MCVs, other Avatars, Terran Thor heavy assault walkers, Protoss Colossal combat drones and Scrin tripods, are too big and too strong for an Avatar to overpower. Advanced defence structures such as Obelisks of Light and Scrin Storm Columns have functional parts that are too big and too complex for an Avatar to attach to. So far, despite their advances in genetic studies, Nod scientists have also yet to find a way to integrate Zerg fully biological weapons and armour as part of the Avatar's upgrade pool.

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Nod Structure List

**Temple of Nod: **Large holy superweapon structure fielded by the Brotherhood of Nod. Primarily functions as a launch bay for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Once operational, a countdown begins before the Temple is fire its load. If countdown has reached halfway at 5 minutes, a Nod commander can choose to fire prematurely by launching a multi-missile onto a selected area, which deal medium to heavy scattered damage across a large area. If countdown has finished after 10 minutes, the Temple is ready to launch a fully operational thermonuclear missile onto a selected area, dealing massive damage across a large area. Each launch, regardless a multi-missile or nuclear missile, will reset the countdown timer. Countdowns will stop if the Temple of Nod is underpowered.

More structure list coming soon...

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Hey guys! Sorry for the long downtime. I have started working after my graduation and together with other things in life, leave me little time to update. Getting hooked into more video games and reality show series isn't making things better.

For some unknown reason, I find writing my most favourite Nod unit in this story very difficult. I think it's mainly because I'm trying to find the delicate balance between making the Avatar shine in the StarCraft universe, while not trying to make it too overpowered at the same time. The Avatar itself is already a pretty complex unit, so I also did spend a long time thinking and revising my new Avatar unit design. It's not easy trying to make up a new Avatar version that has to be better than all the previous versions like how it should be after more than 400 years, yet still retain the characteristics of the previous versions to make it recognisable as a Nod Avatar and not something entirely different. Hope all of you like this new Avatar.

As you've all noticed that there's no vs. section in this update. Well, that's because with the long section regarding on the Avatar and its upgrades, with the Temple of Nod, I think the extra section is going to be too long if I also add in a unit vs. section. Hence I've decided to drop it this time. It'll be back next time.

The idea of the Temple of Nod able to use two kinds of superweapons depending on status of its countdown during activation is thanks to MegaAuthor. Thumbs up for him guys!

I won't know when, but I will assure you like always that I'll not abandon this story, though updates may be irregular. Stay tuned for the next update!


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